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THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


ID 


GIFT  OF 

IJrs.  Ben  B,  Lindsey 


RUSSELL  H.   COXWELL 


Russell  H.  Conwell 

Founder  of  the  Institutional 
Church  in  America 


THE  WORK  AND  THE  MAN 

BY 

AGNES  RUSH  BURR 


With    His   Two    Famous   Lectures    as    Recently 
Delivered,  entitled  "Acres  of  Diamonds, 
and  "Personal  Glimpses  of  Celebrated 
Men  and  Women 


Willi  an  Appreciative  Introduction 

by 
FLOYD  W.  TOMKINS,  D.D.,  LLD. 


THE  JOHN  C.  WINSTON  COMPANY 

PHILADELPHIA 
CHICAGO  1905  TORONTO 


CoPYRIGHThD  1905 

By 
The  John  C.  Winston  Co. 


BX 


Af^  i^ 


TO  THE  MEMBERS 

OF 

GRACE   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

To      THOSB      WHO      IN"      THE      OLD      DAYS      WORKED 
WITH     SUCH     SELF     SACRIFICE     AND     DEVOTION     TO 

BUILD  The   Temple   walls;   to  those   who  ix 

THE      later      days      ANYWHERE      WORK      IN      LIKE 
spirit   to   enlarge  THEIE   SPHERE  OF   USEFULNESS, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED 


110S251 


AN  APPRECIATION 

The  measure  of  greatness  is  helpfulness.  We  have 
gone  back  to  the  method  of  the  Master  and  learned  to 
test  men  not  by  wealth,  nor  by  birth,  nor  by  intellectual 
power,  but  by  service.  Wealth  is  not  to  be  despised 
if  it  is  untainted  and  consecrated.  Ancestry  is  noble 
if  the  good  survives  and  the  bad  perishes  in  him  who 
boasts  of  his  forebears.  Intellectual  force  is  worthy  if 
only  it  can  escape  from  that  cursed  attendant,  conceit. 
But  they  sink,  one  and  all  into  insignificance  when 
character  is  considered;  for  character  is  the  child  of 
godly  parents  whose  names  are  self-denial  and  love. 
The  man  who  lives  not  for  himself  but  for  others,  and 
who  has  a  heart  big  enough  to  take  all  men  into  its  liv- 
ing sympathies  —  he  is  the  man  we  delight  to  honor. 

Biographies  have  a  large  place  in  present  day  litera' 
ture.  A  woman  long  associated  with  some  foreign 
potentates  tells  her  story  and  it  is  read  with  unhealthy 
avidity.  Some  man  fights  many  battles,  and  his  ca- 
reer told  by  an  amiable  critic  excites  temporary  inter- 
est.  Yet  as  we  read  we  are  unsatisfied.  The  heart 
and  mind,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  ask  for  some 
deeds  other  than  those  of  arms  and  sycophancies.  Did 
he  make  the  world  better  by  his  living?  Were  rough 
places  smoothed  and  crooked  things  straightened  by  his 
energies  ?     And  withal,  had  he  that  tender  gi-ace  which 


viii  AN  APPRECIATION 

Jrew  little  children  to  him  and  made  him  the  knight- 
attendant  of  the  feeble  and  overborne  amongst  his  fel- 
lows ?  The  life  from  which  men  draw  daily  can  alone 
make  a  book  richly  worth  the  reading. 

It  is  good  that  something  should  be  known  of  a  man 
whilst  he  yet  lives.  We  are  overcrowded  with  monu- 
ments commemorating  those  into  whose  faces  we  cannot 
look  for  inspiration.  It  is  always  easy  to  strew  flow- 
ers upon  the  tomb.  But  to  hear  somewhat  of  living 
realities;  to  grasp  the  hand  which  has  wrought,  and 
feel  the  thrill  while  we  hear  of  the  struggles  which 
made  it  a  beautiful  hand;  to  see  the  face  marked  by 
lines  cut  with  the  chisel  of  inner  experience  and  the 
sword  of  lonely  misunderstanding  and  perchance  of 
biting  criticism,  and  learn  how  the  brave  contest  spelt 
out  a  life-history  on  feature  and  brow ; —  this  is  at  once 
to  know  the  man  and  his  career. 

This  life  of  a  man  justly  honored  and  loved  in 
Philadelphia  will  find  a  welcome  seldom  accorded  to 
the  routine  biography.  It  is  difficult  for  one  who  re- 
joices in  Dr.  Conwell's  friendship  to  speak  in  tem- 
pered langTiage.  It  is  yet  more  difficult  to  do  justice 
to  the  great  work  which  Church  and  College  and  Hos- 
pital, united  in  a  trinity  of  service,  have  accomplished 
in  our  very  midst.  God  hath  done  mighty  things 
through  this  His  servant,  and  the  end  is  not  ^et.  To 
attend  the  Temple  services  on  Sunday  and  feel  the 
pulse  of  worship  is  to  enter  into  a  blessed  fellowship 
with  God  and  men.  To  see  the  thousands  pursuing 
their  studies  during  the  week  in  Temple  College  and 


AN  APPRECIATION  ix 

to  realize  the  tJioroughness  of  the  work  done  is  to  gain 
a  belief  in  Christian  education.  To  move  through  the 
beautiful  Hospital  and  mark  the  gentle  ministration  of 
Christian  physician  and  nurse  is  to  learn  what  Jesus 
meant  when,  quoting  Hosea,  He  said :  "  I  will  have 
mercy  and  not  sacrifice."  And  these  all  bring  one  very 
near  to  the  great  human  heart,  the  intelligent  and  far- 
reaching  judgment,  the  ripe  and  real  religion  of  him 
whose  life  this  volume  tells. 

May  God  bless  Dr.  Conwell  in  the  days  to  come, 
and  graciously  spare  him  to  us  for  many  years !  We 
need  such  men  in  this  old  sin-stained  and  weary  world. 
He  is  an  inspiration  to  his  brothers  in  the  ministry 
of  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  a  proof  of  the  power  in  the 
world  of  pure  Christianity.  H©  is  a  friend  to  all  that 
is  good,  a  foe  to  all  that  is  evil,  a  strength  to  the  weak, 
a  comforter  to  the  sorrowing,  a  man  of  God. 

He  would  not  suffer  these  words  to  be  printed  if  he 
saw  them.  But  they  come  from  the  heart  of  one  who 
loves,  honors,  and  reverences  him  for  his  character  and 
his  deeds.     They  are  the  words  of  a  friend. 


rOREWOKD 
CONWELL  THE   PIONEER 

SPEAKIN'G  of  Russell  Conwell's  career,  a  West- 
ern paper  has  called  it,  "  a  pioneer  life." 
1^0  phrase  better  describes  it. 

Dt.  Conwell  preaches  to  the  largest  Protestant  con- 
gregation in  America  each  Sunday.  He  is  the  founder 
and  president  of  a  college  that  has  a  yearly  roll-call  of 
three  thousand  students.  He  is  the  founder  and  presi- 
dent of  a  hospital  that  annually  treats  more  than  five 
thousand  patients.  Yet  great  as  these  achievements 
are,  they  are  [yet  greater  in  prophecy  than  in  fulfil- 
ment. For  they  are  the  first  landmarks  in  a  new  world 
of  philanthropic  work.  He  has  blazpd  a  path  through 
the  dark,  tangled  wilderness  of  tradition  and  conven- 
tion, hewing  away  the  worthless,  making  a  straight 
road  for  progress,  letting  in  God's  clear  light  to  show 
what  the  world  needs  done  and  how  to  do  it. 

He  has  shown  how  a  church  can  reach  out  into  the 
home,  the  business,  the  social  life  of  thousands  of  peo- 
ple until  their  religion  is  their  life,  their  life  a  religion. 
He  has  given  the  word  "  church  "  its  real  meaning. 
1^0  longer  is  it  a  building  merely  for  worship,  but,  with 
doors  never  closed,  it  is  a  vital  part  of  the  community 
and  the  lives  of  the  people. 

He  has  proven  that  the  great  masses  of  people  are 


xii  FOREWORD 

hungry  and  thirsty  for  knowledge.  The  halls  of  Tem- 
ple College  have  resounded  to  the  tread  of  an  army 
of  working  men  and  women  more  than  fifty  thousand 
strong.  The  man  with  an  hour  a  day  and  a  few  dollars 
a  year  is  as  eager  and  as  welcome  a  student  there,  and 
has  the  same  educational  opportunities  to  the  same 
grade  of  learning  as  though  he  had  the  birthright  of 
leisure  and  money  which  opens  the  doors  to  Harvard 
and  Yale. 

He  has  shown  that  a  hospital  can  be  built  not  merely 
as  a  charity,  not  merely  as  a  necessity,  but  as  a  visible 
expression  of  Christ's  love  and  command,  "  Heal  the 
sick." 

In  all  these  three  lines  he  has  blazed  new  paths, 
opened  new  worlds  for  man's  endeavors  —  new  worlds 
of  religious  work,  new  worlds  of  educational  work.  He 
has  not  only  proven  their  need,  demonstrated  their 
worth,  but  he  has  shown  how  it  is  possible  to  accomplish 
such  results  from  small  beginnings  with  no  large  gifts 
of  money,  with  only  the  hands  and  hearts  of  willing 
workers. 

ISTot  only  has  he  done  a  magnificent  pioneer  work 
in  these  great  fields,  but  from  boyhood  he  has  blazed 
trails  of  one  kind  or  another,  for  the  pioneer  fever  was 
in  his  blood  — •  that  burning  desire  to  do,  to  discover, 
to  strike  out  into  new  fields. 

As  a  mere  child,  he  organized  a  strange  club  called 
"  Silence,"  also  the  first  debating  society  in  the  district 
schoolhouse,  and  circulated  the  first  petition  for  the 
opening  of  a  post-office  near  his  home  in  South  Worth- 
ington,  Mass. 

In  his  school  days  at  Wilbraham  Academy,  he  or-, 
ganized    an    original    critics'    club,  started    the    first 


FOREWORD  xiii 

academy  paper,  organized  the  original  alumni  associa- 
tion. 

In  war  time,  he  built  the  first  schoolhouse  for  the 
first  free  colored  school,  still  standing  at  ISTewport,  N. 
C. ;  and  started  the  first  "  Comfort  Bag  "  movement  at 
a  war  meeting  in  Springfield,  Mass. 

As  a  law;^^er,  he  opened  the  first  noon  prayer  meeting 
in  the  I^orthwest,  called  the  first  meeting  to  organize 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  at  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  organized  four 
literary  and  social  clubs  in  Minneapolis,  started  the  first 
library  in  that  city,  began  the  publication  of  the  first 
daily  paper  there  called  "  The  Daily  Chronicle,"  after- 
ward "  The  Minneapolis  Tribune." 

In  Boston,  he  started  the  "  Somerville  Journal,"  now 
edited  by  his  son,  Leon  M.  Conwell,  one  of  the  most 
quoted  publications  in  the  country.  He  called  the  first 
meeting  which  organized  the  Boston  Young  Men's  Con- 
gress, and  was  one  of  the  first  editors  of  the  "  Boston 
Globe."  He  was  the  personal  adviser  of  James  Ked- 
path,  who  opened  the  first  Lecture  and  Lyceum  Bureau 
in  the  United  States. 

He  began  a  new  church  work  in  the  old  Baptist 
church  building  at  Lexington,  Mass.,  and  he  opened 
in  a  schoolhouse  the  mission  from  which  grew  the  West 
Somei*ville  (Mass.)  Baptist  church. 

He  was  special  counselor  for  four  new  Kailroad  com- 
panies and  for  two  new  ISTational  banks. 

In  Philadelphia,  in  addition  to  being  the  founder  of 
the  first  Institutional  church  in  America,  of  a  college 
practically  free  for  busy  men  and  women,  and  a  hospital 
for  the  sick  poor,  he  has  organized  twenty  or  more 
societies  for  religious  and  benevolent  purposes  including 
the  Philadelphia  Orphan's  Home  Society. 


xiv  FOREWORD 

His  pioneer  work  is  not  all.  As  a  lecturer  Dr.  Con- 
well  is  known  from  tke  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  having 
been  on  the  lecture  platform  for  forty-three  years, 
speaking  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  nights  each  year. 

As  an  author  he  has  written  books  that  have  run  into 
editions  of  hundreds  of  thousands,  his  "  Life  of  Spur- 
geon "  selling  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
copies  in  four  months.  He  has  been  around  the  globe 
many  times,  counted  among  his  intimate  friends  Gari- 
baldi, Bayard  Taylor,  Stanley,  Longfellow,  Blaine, 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  John  G.  Wliittier,  President 
Garfield,  Horace  Greeley,  Alexander  Stevens,  John 
Brown,  E-alph  Waldo  Emerson,  John  B.  Gough  and 
General  Sherman. 

He  fought  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  was  left  for 
dead  on  the  battlefield  of  Kenesaw  mountain  —  in  fact, 
he  has  had  a  career  as  picturesque  and  thrilling  as 
a  Scott  or  Dumas  could  picture. 

Yet  the  man  whose  energy  has  reared  enduring  mon- 
uments of  stone,  and  more  lasting  ones  in  the  hearts 
of  tliousands  whose  lives  he  has  made  happier  and 
brighter,  fought  his  way  upward  alone  and  single- 
handed  from  a  childhood  of  poverty.  He  rose  by  his 
own  efforts,  in  the  face  of  great  and  seemingly  insur- 
mountable obstacles  and  discouragements.  The  path 
he  took  from  that  little  humble  farmhouse  to  the  big 
church,  the  wide-reaching  college,  the  kindly  hospital^ 
the  head  of  the  Lecture  Platform,  it  is  the  purpose  of 
this  book  to  picture,  in  the  hope  that  it  may  be  helpful 
to  others,  either  young  or  old,  who  desire  to  better 
their  condition,  or  to  do  some  work  of  which  the  inner 
voice  tells  them  the  world  is  in  need. 


FOREWORD  XV 

Dr.  Conwell  believes,  with  George  Macdonald,  that 
"  The  one  secret  of  life  and  development  is  not  to  devise 
or  plan,  but  to  fall  in  with  the  forces  at  work  —  to  do 
every  moment's  duty  aright  —  that  being  the  part  in 
the  process  allotted  to  us ;  and  let  come  .  .  .  what 
the  Eternal  Thought  wills  for  each  of  us,  has  intended 
in  each  of  us  from  the  first." 

Or  in  the  words  of  the  greatest  of  Books,  "  See  that 
thou  make  it  according  to  the  pattern  that  was  shewed 
thee  in  the  mount." 

Every  one  at  some  time  in  his  life  has  been  "  in  the 
mount."  To  follow  and  obey  the  Heavenly  Vision 
means  a  life  of  usefulness  and  happiness.  That  obsta- 
cles and  discouragements  can  be  surmounted,  the  life 
of  Russell  Conwell  shows.  For  this  purpose  it  is  writ- 
ten, that  others  who  have  heard  the  Voice  may  go 
forward  with  faith  and  perseverance  to  work  of  which 
the  world  stands  in  need. 


ACKN"OWLEDGMEXT 

In  the  preparation  of  this  book,  the  three  excellent 
biographies  already  written,  "  Scaling  the  Eagle's  Nest," 
by  Wm.  C.  Higgins,  "  The  Modern  Temple  and  Tem- 
plars," by  Eobert  J.  Burdette,  and  "  The  Life  of  Eussell 
H.  Conwell,"  by  Albert  Hatcher  Smith,  have  been  of 
the  utmost  help.  The  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  her 
great  indebtedness  to  all  for  much  of  the  information  in 
the  present  work.  These  writers  have  with  the  utmost 
care  gathered  the  facts  concerning  Dr.  Conwell's  early 
life,  and  the  writer  most  gratefully  owns  her  deep  obliga- 
tion to  them. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Chapter  I.— Ancestry.  ^^^ 

Jolm  Conwell,  the  English  Ancestor  who  fought  for  the 
Preservation  of  the  English  Language.  Martin  Conwell 
of  Maryland.  A  Runaway  Marriage.  The  Parents  of 
Russell   H.    Conwell 23 

Chapter  II. —  Early  Environment, 

The  Family  Circle.  An  Unusual  Mother.  What  She  Read 
Her  Children.     A  Preacher  at  Three  Years  of  Age     .      .     29 

Chapter  III.—  Days  of  Study,  Work  and  Play. 

The  Schoolhouse  in  tlie  Woods.  Maple  Sugar-making. 
The  Orator  of  the  Dawn.  A  Boyish  Prank.  Capturing 
the    Eagle's    Nest 33 

Chapter  IV. —  Two  Men  and  Their  Influence. 

John  Brown.  Fireside  Discussions.  ,  Runaway  Slaves. 
Fred  Douglas.  Rev.  Asa  Niles.  A  Runaway  Trip  to 
Boston 44 

Chapter  V. —  Trying  His  Wings. 
Boyhood  Days.     Russell's  First  Case  at  Law.     A  Cure  for 
Stage    Fever.     Studying    Music.     A    Runaway    Trip    to 
Europe 51 

Chapter  VI.—  Out  of  the  Home  Nest. 

School  Days  at  W^ilbraham  Academy.  Tlie  First  School 
Oration  and  Its  Humiliating  End.  The  Hoiir  of  Prayer 
in  the  Conwell  Home  at  the  Time  of  John  Brown's  Exe- 
cution  60 

xvii 


xviii  CONTENTS 

Chapter  VII.— War's  Alarms.  ^^e* 

College  Days  at  Yale.  The  Outbreak  of  the  Civil  War. 
Patriotic  Speechmaking.  New  York  and  Henry  Ward 
Beecher 68 

Chapter  VIII.— While   the   Conflict  Raged. 
Lincoln's   Call  for   One  Hundred  Thousand   Men.     Enlist- 
ment.    Captain  Conwell.     In  Camp  at  Springfield,  Mass. 
The  Famous  Gold-sheathed  Sword 73 

Chapter  IX.— In  the  Thick  of  the  Fight. 
Company  F  at  NeAvberne,  N.  C.     The  Fight  at  Batchelor's 
Creek.    The  Goldsboro  Expedition.    The  Battle  of  Kings- 
ton.    The  Gum  Swamp  Expedition 77 

Chapter  X.— The  Sword  and  the  School  Book. 

Scouting  at  Bogue  Sound.  Captain  Conwell  Wounded. 
The  Second  Enlistment.  Jealousy  and  Misunderstand- 
ing. Building  of  the  First  Free  School  for  Colored 
Children.  Attack  on  Newport  Barracks.  Heroic  Death 
of  John  Ring 83 

Chapter  XI. —  A  Soldier  of  the  Cross. 

Under  Arrest  for  Absence  Without  Leave.  Order  of  Court 
Reversed  by  President.  Certificate  from  State  Legisla- 
ture of  Massachusetts  for  Patriotic  Services.  Appointed 
by  President  Lincoln,  Lieutenant-Colonel  on  General  Mc- 
Pherson's  Staff.  Wounded  at  Kenesaw  Mountain.  Con- 
version.    Public  Profession  of  Faith 90 

Chapter  XII.— Westward. 

Resignation  from  Army.  Admission  to  Bar.  Marriage. 
Removal  to  Minnesota.  Founding  of  the  Minneapolis 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  of  the  Present  "  Minneapolis  Tribune." 
Burning  of  Home.    Breaking  Out  of  Wound.    Appointed 


CONTENTS  xix 

Emigration  Agent  to  Germany  by  Governor  of  Minnesota.    ^^* 
Joins  Surveying  Party  to  Palestine.     Near  to  Death  in 
Paris  Hospital.     Journey  to  New  York  for  Operation  in 
Bellevue    Hospital.      Return    to    Boston 9G 

Chapter  XIII.— Writing  His  Way  Around  the  World. 
Days    of    Poverty    in    Boston.      Sent    to    Southern    Battle- 
fields.    Around   the   World   for  New   York   and   Boston 
Papers.     In    a    Gambling    Den    in    Hong    Kong,    China. 
Cholera  and  Shipwreck 103 

Chapter  XIV. —  Busy  Days  in  Boston. 

Editor  of  "Boston  Traveller."  Free  Legal  Advice  for  the 
Poor.  Temperance  Work.  Campaign  ^lanager  for  Gen- 
eral Nathaniel  P.  Banks.  Urged  for  Consulship  at 
Naples.  His  Work  for  the  Widows  and  Orphans  of 
Soldiers Ill 

Chapter  XV.— Troubled  Days. 
Death  of  Wife.  Loss  of  Money.  Preaching  on  Wharves. 
Growth  of  Sunday  School  Class  at  Tremont  Temple  from 
Four  to  Six  Hundred  Members  in  a  Brief  Time.  Second 
Marwage.  Death  of  Father  and  Mother.  Preaching  at 
Lexington.      Building    Lexington    Baptist    Church     .      .    117 

Chapter  XVI.— His  Entry  Into  the  Ministry. 
Ordination.     First   Charge   at   Lexington.     Call   to   Grace 
Baptist  Church,   Philadelphia 129 

Chapter  XVII.— Going   to   Philadelphia. 
The  Early  History  of  Grace  Baptist  Church.     Tlie  Begin- 
ning of  the  Sunday  Breakfast  Association.     Impressions 
of  a  Sunday  Service 133 

Chapter  XVIII.— First  Days  at  Grace  Baptist  Church. 
Early  Plans  for  Church  Efficiency.     Practical  Methods  for 


XX  CONTENTS 

Church   Work.     The   Growing  Membership.     Need  of  a    ^^^ 
New   Building 141 

Chapter  XIX.— Hattie  Wiatt's  Legacy. 
How  a  Little   Child   Started   the   Building   Fund   for   the 
Great  Baptist  Temple 148 

Chapter  XX.— Building  of  the  Temple. 
How  the  Money  Was  Raised.    Walking  Clubs.    Jug  Break- 
ing.     Tlie    Purchase    of    the    Lot.      Laying   the    Corner 
Stone        149 

Chapter  XXI. —  Occupying   the   Temple. 
The  First  Sunday.     The  Building  Itself  —  Its  Seating  Ca- 
pacity,   Furnishing   and    Lighting.     The   Lower    Temple 
and  Its  Various  Rooms  and  Halls.     Services  Heard  by 
Telephone  at  the  Samaritan  Hospital 152 

Chapter  XXIL— How  the  Church  Works. 
The  Ladies'  Aid  Society.  The  Young  Women's  Associa- 
tion. The  Young  ilen's  Association.  The  Ushers'  Asso- 
ciation. The  Christian  Endeavor  Societies.  The  Many 
Other  Organizations.  What  They  Do,  and  How  They 
Do  It 159 

Chapter  XXIII. —  Fairs   and   Entertainments. 
The     Temple     Fairs.      How    They     are     Planned.      Their 
Religious  Aim.     Appointment  of  Committees.     How  the 
Committees  Work.     The  Church  Entertainments.     Their 
Character 174 

Chapter  XXIV.— The  Business  Side. 

How  the  Finances  are  IVIanagod.     The  Work  of  the  Dea- 
cons.    The  Duties  of  the  Trustees  - 182 


CONTENTS  XXI 

Chapter  XXV.— The  Chorus  of  the  Temple,  ^^^^ 

Its  Leader,  Professor  David  Wood.  How  he  Came  to  the 
Church.  A  Sketch  of  His  Life.  The  Business  Manage- 
ment of  the  Chorus.  The  "  Fine  "  System.  The  Sheet 
Musie  and  Its  Care.  Oratorios  and  Concerts.  Finances  of 
tlie  Chorus.     Contributions  it  has  Made  to  Church  Work.  189 

Chapter  XXVI.— Services  at  the  Temple. 
A  Typical  Sunday.     The  Young  People's  Church.     Sunday 
School.     The  Baptismal   Service.     Dedication  of  Infants. 
The  Pastor's  Thanksgiving  Reception  to  Children.     Sun- 
rise Services.     Watch  Meeting 202 

Chapter  XXVII.— A  Typical  Prayer  Meeting. 

The  Prayer  Meeting  Hall.  How  the  Meeting  is  Conducted. 
The  Giving  of  Favorite  Bible  Verses.  Requests  for 
Prayer.     The  Lookout  Committee 217 

Chapter  XXVIII.— The   Temple   College. 
The  Night  Temple   College   was  Born.     Its  Simple   Begin- 
ning and  its  Rapid  Growth.     Building  the  College.     How 
the  Money  was  Raised.     The  Branches  it  Teaches.     In- 
stances of  its  Helpfulness.    Planning  for  Greater  Things.  222 

Chapter  XXIX.— The  Samaritan  Hospital. 

Beginning  in  Two  Rooms.  Growth.  Number  of  Beds. 
Management.  Temple  Services  Heard  by  Telephone. 
Faith  and  Nationality  of  Those  Cared  for     ...      .  248 

Chapter  XXX.— The  Manner  of  the  Man. 
Boundless  Love  for  Men.     Utter  Humility.    His  Simplicity 
and  Informality.     Keen   Sense  of  Humor.     His  Uncon- 
ventional Methods  of  Work.     Power  as  a  Leader.     His 
Tremendous  Faith   ,     .     ...     .     .     ...     .......  256 


xxii  CONTENTS 

Chapter  XXXI.— The  Manner  of  the  Message.  ^"^^ 

The  Style  of  the  Sermons.  Their  Subject  Matter.  Preach- 
ing to  Help  Some  Individual  Church  Member     .      .      .   272 

Chapter  XXXII.— These  Busy  Later  Days. 
A  Typical  Week  Day.     A  Typical  Sunday.     Mrs.  Conwell. 
Back  to  the  Berkshires  in  Summer  for  Rest     ....  279 

Chapter  XXXIII.— As  a  Lecturer. 

Wide  Fame  as  a  Lecturer.  Date  of  Entrance  on  Lec- 
ture Platform.  Number  of  Lectures  Given,  The  Press 
on  His  Lectures.  Some  Instances  of  How  His  Lectures 
Have  Helped  People.  Address  at  Banquet  to  President 
McKinley 289 

Chapter  XXXIV.—  As  a  Writer. 

Rapid  Method  of  Working.  A  Popular  Biographical 
Writer.     The  Books  He  has  Written 303 

Chapter  XXXV.— A  Home  Coming. 
Reception  Tendered  by  Citizens  of  Philadelphia  in  Acknowl- 
edgment of  Work  as  Public  Benefactor 309 

Chapter  XXXVI.— The  Path  That  Has  Been  Blazed. 

Problems  That  Need  Solving.  The  Need  of  Men  Able  to 
Solve  Them 312 

Acres  of  Diamonds. 

,        317 

^• 

Personal  Glimpses  of  Celebrated  Men  and  Women. 

345 


MARTIN  CONWELL 


CHAPTER  I 

ANCESTRY 

John  Conwell,  the  English  Ancestor  who  fought  for  the  Preser- 
vation of  the  English  Language.  Martin  Conwell  of  Maryland. 
A  Runaway  Marriage.     The  Parents  of  Russell  Conwell. 

WHEIT  the  N^orman-Frencli  overran  England  and 
threatened  to  sweep  from  out  the  island  the 
English  language,  many  time-honored  English 
customs,  and  all  that  those  loyal  early  Britons  held  dear, 
a  doughty  Englishman,  John  Conwell,  took  up  cudgels 
in  their  defence.  Long  and  bitter  was  the  struggle 
he  waged  to  preserve  the  English  language.  Insidious 
and  steady  were  the  encroachments  of  the  Norman- 
French  tongue.  The  storm  centre  was  the  Castle  school, 
for  John  Conwell  realized  that  the  language  of  the 
child  of  to-day  is  the  language  of  the  man  of  to-morrow. 
Right  royal  was  the  battle,  for  it  was  in  those  old 
feudal  days  of  strong  feeling  and  bitter,  bloody  par- 
tisanship. But  this  plucky  Briton  stood  to  his  guns 
until  he  won.  Norman-French  was  beaten  back,  Eng- 
lish was  taught  in  the  schools,  and  preserved  in  the 
speech  of  that  day. 

It  was  a  tale  that  was  told  his  children  and  his 
children's  children.  It  was  a  tradition  that  grew  into 
their  blood  —  the  story  of  perseverance,  the  story  of  a 
fight  against  oppression  and  injustice.  "  Blood "  is 
after  all  but  family  traditions  and  family  ideals,  and 

23 


24  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

this  figliting  ancestor  handed  down  to  his  descendants 
an  inheritance  of  greater  worth  than  royal  lineage  or 
feudal  castle.  The  centuries  rolled  away,  a  new  world 
was  discovered,  and  the  progressive,  energetic  Conwell 
family  w'ere  not  to  be  held  hack  when  adventure 
beckoned.  Two  members  of  it  came  to  America. 
Courage  of  a  high  order,  enthusiasm,  faith,  must  they 
have  had,  or  the  call  to  cross  a  perilous,  pathless  ocean,  ' 
to  brave  unknown  dangers  in  a  new  world  would  have 
found  no  response  in  their  hearts.  They  settled  in 
Maryland  and  into  this  fighting  pioneer  blood  entered 
that  strange  magic  influence  of  the  South,  which  makes 
for  romance,  for  imagination,  for  the  poetic  and  ideal 
in  temperament. 

Of  this  family  came  Martin  Conwell,  of  Baltimore, 
hot-blooded,  proud,  who  in  1810,  visiting  a  college 
chum  in  western  Massachusetts,  met  and  fell  in  love 
with  a  iSTew  England  girl.  Miss  Hannah  Xjles.  She 
was  already  engaged  to  a  neighbor's  son,  but  the  South- 
erner cared  naught  for  a  rival.  He  wooed  earnestly, 
passionately.  He  soon  swept  away  her  protests,  won 
her  heart  and  the  two  ran  away  and  were  married. 
But  tragic  days  were  ahead.  On  her  return  her 
incensed  father  locked  her  in  her  room  and  by  threats 
and  force  compelled  her  to  write  a  note  to  her  young 
husband  renouncing  him.  He  would  accept  no  such 
message,  but  sent  a  note  imploring  a  meeting  in  a 
nearby  schooUiouse  at  nightfall.  The  letter  fell  into 
the  father's  hands.  He  compelled  her  to  write  a  curt 
reply  bidding  him  leave  her  "  forever."  Then  the 
father  loclzed  the  daughter  safely  in  the  attic,  and 
with  a  mob  led  by  the  rejected  suitor,  surrounded  the 
schoolhouse  and  burnt  it  to  the  ground.     The  husband, 


MIRANDA  CONWELL 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  25 

thinking  he  had  been  heartlessly  forsaken,  made  a  brave 
fight  against  the  odds,  but  seeing  no  hope  of  success, 
leaped  from  the  burning  building,  amid  the  shots  fired 
at  him,  escaped  down  a  rocky  embankment  at  the  back 
of  the  schoolhouse,  and  under  cover  of  the  woods,  fled. 
They  told  his  wife  that  he  was  dead. 

A  little  son  came  to  brighten  her  shadowed  life,  whom 
she  named,  after  him,  Martin  Conwell ;  and  after  seven 
years  she  married  her  early  lover.  But  Martin  was 
the  son  of  her  first  husband  and  always  her  dearest 
child,  and  day  after  day  when  old  and  gray  and  again 
a  widow,  she  would  come  over  the  ISTew  England  hills, 
a  little  lonely  old  woman,  to  sit  by  his  fireside  and 
dream  of  those  bygone  days  that  were  so  sweet. 

Too  proud  to  again  seek  an  explanation,  Martin 
Conwell,  her  husband,  returned  to  his  Maryland  home, 
living  a  lonely,  bitter  life,  believing  to  the  day  of  his 
death,  thirty  years  later,  that  his  young  wife  had  re- 
pudiated and  betrayed  him. 

Martin  Conwell,  the  son,  grew  to  manhood  and  In 
1839  brought  a  bride  to  a  little  farm  .he  had  purchased 
at  South  Worthlngton,  up  In  the  Hampshire  Highlands 
of  the  Berkshire  Hills  in  Massachusetts.  Here  and 
there  among  these  hills,  along  the  swift  mountain 
streams,  the  land  sweeps  out  Into  sunny  little  meadows 
filled  in  summer  with  rich,  tender  grasses,  starred  with, 
flowers.  It  is  not  a  fertile  land.  The  rocks  creep  out 
v/ith  frequent  and  unpleasing  persistency.  But  Martin 
Conwell  viewed  life  cheerfully,  and  being  an  ingenious 
man,  added  to  the  business  of  farming,  several  other 
occupations,  and  so  managed  to  make  a  living,  and  after 
many  years  to  pay  the  mortgage  on  his  home  which 
came  with  the  purchase.     The  little  farmhouse,  cling- 


26  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

ing  to  the  bleak  hillside,  seemed  daring  to  the  point 
of  recklessness  when  the  winter's  winds  swept  down  the 
valley,  and  the  icy  fingers  of  the  storm  reached  out  as 
if  to  pluck  it  bodily  from  its  exposed  position. 

But  when  spring  wove  her  mantle  of  green  over  the 
hills,  when  summer  flung  its  leafy  banners  from  a  mil- 
lion tree  tops,  then  in  the  wonderful  panorama  of  beauty 
that  spread  before  it,  was  the  little  home  justified  for 
the  dangers  it  had  dared.  Back  of  the  house  the  land 
climbed  into  a  little  ridge,  with  great,  gray  rocks  here 
and  there,  spots  of  cool,  restful  color  amid  the  lavish 
green  and  gold  and  purple  of  nature's  carpeting.  To 
the  north  swept  hills  clothed  with  the  deep,  rich  green 
of  hemlock,  the  faint  green  flutter  of  birch,  the  dense 
foliage  of  sugar  maples.  To  the  east,  in  the  valley,  a 
singing  silver  brook  flashed  in  and  out  among  somber 
boulders,  the  land  ascending  to  sunny  hilltop  pastures 
beyond.  But  toward  the  south  from  the  homestead  lay 
the  gem  of  the  scenery ;  one  of  the  most  beautiful  pic- 
tures the  Berkshires  know.  Down  the  valley  the  hills 
divided,  sweeping  upward  east  and  west  in  magnificent 
curves;  and  through  the  opening,  range  on  range  of 
distant  mountains,  including  Mount  Tom,  filled  the 
view  with  an  ever-changing  fairyland  of  beauty  —  in 
the  spring  a  sea  of  tender,  misty  green ;  in  the  summer, 
a  deep,  heaving  ocean  of  billowy  foliage ;  in  the  fall,  a 
very  carnival  of  color  —  gold,  rich  reds,  deep  glowing 
browns  and  orange.  And  always,  at  morning,  noon 
and  night,  was  seen  subtle  tenderness  of  violet  shadows, 
of  hazy  blue  mists,  of  far-away  purple  distances. 

Such  was  the  site  Martin  Conwell  chose  for  a  home, 
a  site  that  told  something  of  his  own  character;  that 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  27 

had  marked  influence  on  the  family  that  grew  up  in 
the  little  farmhouse. 

A  mixture  of  the  practical,  hard  common  sense  of 
New  England  and  the  sympathetic,  poetic  temperament 
of  the  South  was  in  this  young  j^ew  England  farmer 
—  the  genial,  beauty-loving  nature  of  his  Southern 
father,  the  rigid  honesty,  the  strong  convictions,  the 
shrewd  sense  of  his  JSTorthem  mother.  Quiet  and  re- 
served in  general,  he  was  to  those  who  knew  him  well, 
kind-hearted,  broad-minded,  fun-loving.  He  not  only 
took  an  active  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  little  moun- 
tain community,  but  his  mind  and  heart  went  out  to 
the  big  problems  of  the  nation.  He  grappled  with 
them,  sifted  them  thoroughly,  and  having  decided  what 
to  him  was  the  right  course  to  pursue,  expressed  his 
convictions  in  deed  as  well  as  word.  His  was  no  pas- 
sive nature.  The  square  chin  denoted  the  man  of  will 
and  aggression,  and  though  the  genial  mouth  and  kindly 
blue  eyes  bespoke  the  sympathetic  heart,  they  showed 
no  lack  of  courage  to  come  out  in  the  open  and  take 
sides. 

The  young  wife,  Miranda  Conwell,  shared  these 
broader  interests  of  her  husband.  She  came  from  cen- 
tral 'New  York  State  and  did  not  have  that  New  Eng- 
land reserve  and  restraint  that  amounts  almost  to 
coldness.  Her  mind  was  keen  and  vigorous  and  reached 
out  vdth  her  husband's  to  grasp  and  ponder  the  higher 
things  of  life.  But  the  beauty  of  her  character  lay  in 
the  loving,  affectionate  nature  that  shone  from  her 
dark  eyes,  in  the  patient,  self-sacrificing,  self-denying 
disposition  which  found  its  chief  joy  in  ministering 
to  her  husband  and  children.  Deeply  religious,  she 
could    no    more    help    whispering    a     fervent    little 


28  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

prayer,  as  she  tucked  her  boys  in  bed,  that  the  Father 
above  would  watch  over  and  protect  them,  than  she 
could  help  breathing,  her  trust  in  God  was  so  much 
a  part  of  her  nature.  Such  a  silent,  beautiful  influence 
unconsciously  permeates  a  child's  whole  character, 
moulding  it,  setting  it.  Unconscious  of  it  at  the  time, 
some  day  a  great  event  suddenly  crystalizes  it  like  a 
wonderful  chemical  change,  and  the  beauty  of  it  shines 
evermore  from  his  life.  Miranda  Conwell  built  better 
than  she  knew  when  in  the  every-day  little  things  of  her 
life,  she  let  her  faith  shine. 

"Not  a  usual  couple,  b^y  any  means,  for  the  early  40's 
in  rugged  'New  England.  Yet  their  unusualness  was 
of  a  kind  within  every  one's  reach.  They  believed  the 
making  of  a  life  of  more  importance  than  the  making  of 
a  living,  and  they  grasped  every  opportunity  of  those 
meagre  days  to  broaden  and  uplift  their  mental  and 
spiritual  vision.  Martin  Conwell's  thought^  went  be- 
yond his  plow  furrow,  Miranda's  further  than  her 
bread-board ;  and  so  the  little  home  had  an  atmosphere 
of  earnest  thought  and  purpose  that  clothed  the  un- 
carpeted  floors  and  bare  walls  with  dignity  and  beauty. 


CHAPTER  II 

EARLY  ENVIRONMENT 

The  Family  Circle.     An  Unusual  ]\Iother.     What  She  Read  Her 
Children.     A  Preacher  at  Three  Years  of  Age. 

UCII  was  the  heritage  and  the  home  into  which 
Enssell  H.  Conwell  was  horn  Fehrnary  15,  1843. 
Think  what  a  world  his  eyes  opened  upon  — 
"  fair,  searching  eyes  of  j^outh  " —  steadfast  hills  hold- 
ing mystery  and  fascination  in  green  depths  and  purple 
distances,  streams  rushing  with  noisy  joy  over  stony 
beds,  sweet  violet  gloom  of  night  with  brilliant  stars 
moving  silently  across  infinite  space ;  tender  moss,  deli- 
cate fem,  creeping  vine,  covering  the  brown  earth  with 
living  beauty  —  a  fascinating  world  of  loveliness  for 
boyish  eyes  to  look  upon  and  wonder  about. 

The  home  inside  was  as  unpretentious  as  its  exterior 
suggested.  The  tiny  hall  admitted  on  one  side  to  a 
bedroom,  on  the  other  to  a  living  room,  from  which 
opened  a  room  used  as  a  store.  Above  was  an  attic. 
The  living  room  was  the  bright,  cheery  heart  of  the 
house.  The  morning  sun  poured  in  through  two  win- 
dows which  faced  the  east;  a  window  and  door  on  the 
south  claimed  the  same  cheery  rays  as  the  sun  journeyed 
westward.  The  big  open  fireplace  made  a  glowing  spot 
of   brightness.     The   floor  was   uncarpeted,    the   walls 

unpapered,  the  furnishing  of  the  simplest,  yet  checrful- 

29 


30  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

ness  and  homely  comfort  pervaded  the  room  as  witli 
an  ahnost  tangible  spirit. 

A  brother  three  years  older  and  a  sister  three  years 
younger  made  a  trio  of  bright,  childish  faces  about  the 
hearth  on  winter  evenings  as  the  years  went  by,  while 
the  mother  read  to  them  such  tales  as  childish  minds 
could  grasp.  It  was  a  loving  little  circle,  one  that 
riveted  sure  and  fast  the  ties  of  family  affection  and 
which  helped  one  boy  at  her  knee  in  after  life  to  enter 
with  such  sure  sympathy  into  the  plain,  simple  lives  of 
the  humblest  people  he  met-  He  had  lived  that  same  life, 
he  knew  the  family  affection  that  grows  with  such 
strength  around  simple  firesides,  and  those  of  like  cir- 
cumstances felt  this  knowledge  and  opened  their  hearts 
to  him. 

That  Miranda  Conwell  was  an  unusual  woman  for 
those  times  and  circumstances  is  shown  in  those  read- 
ings to  her  children.  'Not  only  did  she  read  and  ex- 
plain to  them  the  beautiful  stories  of  the  Bible, 
implanting  its  truths  in  their  impressionable  natures 
to  blossom  forth  later  in  beautiful  deeds ;  but  she  read 
them  the  best  literature  of  the  ancient  days  as  well  as 
current  literature.  Into  this  poor  ISTew  England  home 
came  the  "  N'ew  York  Tribune"  and  the  "National 
Era."  The  letters  of  foreign  correspondents  opened  to 
their  childish  eyes  another  world  and  roused  ambitions 
to  see  it.  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  sermons,  and  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin,"  when  it  came  out  as  a  serial,  all  such 
good  and  helpful  literature,  she  poured  into  the  eager 
childish  ears.  These  readings  went  on,  all  through 
the  happy  days  of  childhood. 

Interesting  things  were  happening  in  the  world  then ; 
things  that  were  to  mould  the  future  of  one  of  the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  31 

boys  at  her  knee  in  a  way  she  little  dreamed.  A  war 
was  being  waged  in  Mexico  to  train  soldiers  for  a 
greater  war  coming.  Out  in  Illinois,  a  plain  rail- 
splitter,  farmer  and  lawyer  was  beginning  to  be  heard 
in  the  cause  of  freedom  and  justice  for  all  men,  black 
or  white.  These  rumors  and  discussions  drifted  into 
the  little  home  and  arguments  rose  high  around  the 
crackling  woodfire  as  neighbors  dropped  in.  Martin 
Conwell  was  not  a  man  to  watch  passively  the  trend 
of  events.  He  took  sides  openly,  vigorously,  and  though 
the  small,  blue-eyed  boy  listening  so  attentively  did  not 
comprehend  all  that  it  was  about,  Martin  Conwell's 
views  later  took  shape  in  action  that  had  a  marked 
bearing  on  Russell's  later  life. 

But  the  mother's  reading  bore  more  immediate,  if 
less  useful,  fruit.  Hearing  rather  unusual  sounds  from 
the  back  yard  one  day,  she  went  to  the  door  to  listen. 
The  evening  before  she  had  been  reading  the  children 
one  of  the  sermons  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  and  telling 
them  something  of  this  great  man  and  his  work. 
Mounted  upon  one  of  the  largest  gray  rocks  in  the  yard, 
stood  Russell,  solemnly  preaching  to  a  collection  of 
wondering,  round-eyed  chickens.  It  was  a  serious,  im- 
pressive discourse  he  gave  them,  much  of  it,  no  doubt, 
a  transcript  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher's.  Wliat  led  his 
boyish  fancy  to  do  it,  no  one  knew,  though  many  another 
child  has  done  the  same,  as  children  dramatize  in  play 
the  things  they  have  heard  or  read.  But  a  chance  re- 
mark stamped  that  childish  action  upon  the  boyish 
imagination,  making  it  the  comer  stone  of  many  a 
childish  castle  in  Spain.  Telling  her  husband  of  it  in 
the  evening,  Miranda  Conwell  said,  half  jokingly, 
"  our  boy  will  some  day  be  a  great  preacher."     It  was 


32  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

a  fertile  seed  dropped  in  a  fertile  mind,  tilled  assidu- 
ously for  a  brief  space  by  vivid  childish  imagination ; 
but  not  ripened  till  sad  experiences  of  later  years  brought 
it  to  a  glorious  fruition. 

Another  result  of  the  fireside  readings  might  have 
been  serious.  A  short  distance  from  the  house  a  moun- 
tain stream  leaps  and  foams  over  the  stones,  seeming 
to  choose,  as  Ruskin  says,  "  the  steepest  places  to  come 
down  for  the  sake  of  the  leaps,  scattering  its  handfuls 
of  crystal  this  way  and  that  as  the  wind  takes  them." 
The  walls  of  the  gorge  rise  sheer  and  steep ;  the  path  of 
the  stream  is  strewn  with  huge  boulders,  over  which  it 
foams  snow  white,  pausing  in  quiet  little  pools  for 
breath  before  the  next  leap  and  scramble.  Here  and 
there  at  the  sides,  stray  tiny  little  waterfalls,  very 
Thoreaus  of  streamlets,  content  to  wander  off  by  them- 
selves, away  from  the  noisy  rush  of  the  others,  making 
little  silvery  rills  of  beauty  in  unobtrusite  ways.  Over 
this  gorge  was  a  fallen  log.  Russell  determined  to 
enact  the  part  of  Eliza  in  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  flee- 
ing over  the  ice.  It  was  a  feat  to  make  a  mother's 
heart  stand  still.  Three  separate  times  she  whipped 
him  severely  and  forbade  him  to  do  it.  He  took  the 
punishment  cheerfully,  and  went  back  to  the  log.  He 
never  gave  np  until  he  had  crossed  it. 

The  vein  of  perseverance  in  his  character  was  already 
setting  into  firm,  unyielding  mould  —  the  one  trait  to 
which  Russell  H.  Conwell,  the  preacher,  the  lecturer, 
writer,  founder  of  college  and  hospital,  may  attribute  the 
success  he  has  gained.  This  childish  escapade  was  the 
first  to  strike  fire  from  its  flint. 


CHAPTER  III 

DAYS  OF  STUDY,  WORK  AND  PLAY 

The  Schoolhouse  in  the  Woods.     Maple  Sugar-making.     The  Ora- 
tor  of   the   Dawn.     A   Boyish   Prank.     Capturing   the   Eagle's 

Nest. 

AT  THE-EE  years  of  age,  he  trudged  off  to  school 
■with  his  brother  Charles.  Though  Charles  was 
three  years  the  senior,  the  little  fellow  struggled 
to  keep  pace  with  him  in  all  their  childish  play  and 
work.  Two  miles  the  children  Avalked  daily  to  the 
schoolhouse,  a  long  walk  for  a  toddler  of  three.  But 
it  laid  the  foundation  of  that  strong,  rugged  constitu- 
tion that  has  canned  him  so  unflinchingly  through  the 
hard  work  of  these  later  yeare.  The  walk  to  school  was 
the  most  important  part  of  the  performance,  for  lessons 
had  no  attraction  for  the  boy  as  yet.  But  the  road 
through  the  woods  to  the  schoolhouse  was  a  journey  of 
ever  new  and  never-ending  excitement.  The  road  lay 
along  a  silver-voiced  brook  that  rippled  softly  by  shad- 
owy rock,  or  splashed  joyous  and  exultant  down  its 
boulder-strewn  path.  It  was  this  same  brook  whose 
music  drifted  into  his  little  attic  bedroom  at  night, 
stilled  to  a  faint,  far-away  munnur  as  the  wind  died 
down,  rising  to  a  high,  clear  crescendo  of  rushing, 
tumbling  water  as  the  breeze  stirred  in  the  tree  tops 

and  brought  to  him  the  forest  sounds.     Hour  after  hour 
3  33 


34  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

he  lay  awake  listening  to  it,  his  childish  imagination 
picturing  fairies  and  elves  holding  their  revels  in  the 
woods  beyond.  An  oratorical  little  brook  it  was,  un- 
consciously leaving  an  impress  of  its  musical  speech  on 
the  ears  of  the  embryo  orator.  Moreover,  in  its  quiet 
pools  lurked  watchful  trout.  Few  country  boys  could 
walk  along  such  a  stream  unheeding  its  fascinations, 
especially  when  the  doors  of  a  school  house  opened  at 
the  farther  end,  and  many  an  hour  when  studies  should 
have  claimed  him,  he  ■v^'as  sitting  by  the  brookside, 
care-free  and  contented,  delightedly  fishing.  ISTor  are 
any  berries  quite  so  luscious  as  those  which  grow  along 
the  country  road  to  scho(>l.  It  takes  long,  long  hours 
to  satisfy  the  keen  appetite  of  a  boy,  and  lessons  suf- 
fered during  the  berry  seasons.  Another  keen  excite- 
ment of  the  daily  joum(?y  through  a  living  world  of 
mystery  and  enchantment  was  the  search  for  frogs. 
Woe  to  the  unlucky  frog  that  fell  in  the  way  of  the 
active,  curious  boy.  Some  one  had  told  hiin  that  old, 
old  countryside  story,  "  If  you  kill  a  frog,  the  cows 
will  give  bloody  milk."  Eager  to  see  such  a  phe- 
nomenon, he  watched  sharply.  Let  an  unlucky  frog 
give  one  unfortunate  croak,  quick,  sure-aimed,  flew  a 
stone,  and  he  raced  home  at  night  to  see  the  miracle 
performed.  He  was  just  a  boy  as  other  boys  —  mis- 
chievous, disobedient,  fonder  of  play  than  work  or 
study.  But  underneath,  uncalled  upon  as  yet,  lay  that 
vein  of  perseverance  as  unyielding  as  the  granite  of  his 
native  hills. 

The  schoolhouse  inside  was  not  unattractive.  Six 
windows  gave  plenty  of  light,  and  each  framed  wood- 
land pictures  no  painter's  canvas  could  rival.  The 
woods  were  all  about  and  the  voice  of  the  little  brook 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  35 

floated  In,  always  calling,  calling  —  at  least  to  one  small 
listener  —  to  come  out  and  see  it  dance  and  sparkle 
and  leap  from  rock  to  rock.  If  he  gained  nothing  else 
from  his  first  school  days  but  a  love  and  appreciation  of 
nature's  beauties,  it  was  a  lesson  well  worth  learning. 
To  feed  the  heart  and  imagination  of  a  child  with  such 
scenery  is  to  develop  unconsciously  a  love  of  the  beau- 
tiful which  brings  a  pure  joy  into  life  never  to  be  lost, 
no  matter  what  stress  and  storm  may  come.  In  the 
darkest,  stormiest  hours  of  his  later  life,  to  think  back 
to  the  serene  beauty  of  those  ISTew  England  hills  was 
as  a  hand  of  peace  laid  O'l  his  troubled  spirit. 

This  love  and  joy  in  nature  —  and  the  trait  was 
already  in  his  blood  —  was  at  first  all  that  he  gained 
from  his  trips  to  school.  Then  came  a  teacher  with 
a  new  way  of  instructing,  a  Miss  Salina  Cole,  who  had 
mastered  the  art  of  visual  memory.  She  taught  her 
pupils  to  make  on  the  mind  a  photographic  impression 
of  the  page,  which  could  be  recalled  in  its  entirety,  even 
to  the  details  of  punctuation.  This  was  a  process  of 
study  that  appealed  immediately  to  Russell's  boyish 
imagination.  Moreover,  it  was  something  to  "  see  if 
he  could  do,"  always  fascinating  to  his  love  of  experi- 
ment and  adventure.  It  had  numerous  other  advan- 
tages. It  was  quick.  It  promised  far-reaching  results. 
If  page  after  page  of  the  school  books  could  be  stored 
in  the  mind  and  called  up  for  future  reference,  getting 
an  education  would  become  an  easy  matter.  Besides, 
they  could  be  called  up  and  pondered  on  in  various 
places — fishing,  for  instance.  He  quickly  decided  to 
would  master  this  new  method,  and  he  went  at  it  with 
his  characteristic  energy  and  determination.  Concen- 
trating all  his  mental  force,  he  would  study  intently 


36  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

the  printed  page,  and  then  closing  his  eves,  repeat  it 
word  for  word,  even  giving  the  punctuation  marks. 
With  the  other  pupils,  Salina  Cole  was  not  so  successful, 
but  with  Russell  Conwell,  the  results  were  remarkable. 
It  was  a  faculty  of  the  utmost  value  to  him  in  after 
years.  When  in  military  camp  and  far  from  books,  he 
would  recall  page  after  page  of  his  law  works  and 
study  them  during  the  long  days  of  garrison  duty  as 
easily  as  though  the  printed  book  were  in  his  hand. 

But  the  work  was  of  more  value  to  him  than  the  mere 
mastery  of  something  new.  It  whetted  his  appetite  for 
more.  He  began  to  want  to  know.  School  became  in- 
teresting, and  he  plunged  into  studies  with  an  interest 
and  zest  that  were  unflagging.  And  as  he  studied,  am- 
bitions awoke.  The  history  of  the  past,  the  accomplish- 
ments of  great  men  stirred  him.  He  began  to  dream 
of  the  things  to  do  in  the  daj^s  to  come. 

Outside  of  school  hours  his  time  was  filled  with  the 
ordinary  duties  of  the  farm.  In  the  early  spring,  the 
maple  sugar  was  to  be  made  and  there  were  long,  diffi- 
cult tramps  through  woods  in  those  misty,  brooding 
days  when  the  miracle  of  new  life  is  working  in  tree 
and  vine  and  leaf.  Often  the  very  earth  seemed 
hushed  as  if  waiting  in  awe  for  this  marvelous  change 
that  transforms  brown  earth  and  bare  tree  to  a  vision 
of  ethereal,  tender  green.  But  his  books  went  with 
him,  and  in  the  long  night  watches  far  in  the  woods 
alone,  when  the  pans  of  sirrup  were  boiling,  he  studied. 
So  enrapt  did  he  become  that  sometimes  the  sugar  suf- 
fered, and  the  patience  of  his  father  was  sorely  taxed 
when  told  the  tale  of  inattention. 

It  was  during  those  long  Jiight  watches  that  he 
learned  by  heart  two  books  of  Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost," 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  37 

and  so  firmly  were  they  fixed  in  the  boyish  meniory  that 
at  this  day,  Dr.  Conwell  can  repeat  them  without  a 
break.  Many  a  time  as  the  shadows  lightened  and  the 
dim,  misty  dawn  came  stealing  through  the  forest, 
would  the  small  boy  step  outside  the  rude  sugar-house 
and  repeat  in  that  musical,  resonant  voice  that  has  since 
held  audiences  enthralled,  Milton's  glorious  "  Invoca- 
tion to  the  Light."  Strange  scene  —  the  great  shadowy 
forest,  the  distant  mist-enfolded  hills,  the  faintly  flush- 
ing morning  sky,  the  faint  splash  of  a  little  mountain 
stream  breaking  the  brooding  stillness,  and  the  small 
boy  with  intent,  inspired  face  pouring  out  his  very 
heart  in  that  wonderful  invocation: 

"  Hail,  holy  light,  offspiing  of  Heaven,  Firstborn 
Or  of  the  Eternal,  co-eternal  beam, 
May  I  express  thee  Unblanied?  since  God  is  light. 
And  never  but  in  unapproached  light 
Dwelt  from  eternity  —  dwelt  then  in  thee, 
Bright  effluence  of  bright  essence  increate ! 
Or  hear'st  thou,  rather,  pure  Eternal  Stream, 
Whose  fountain  who  shall  tell?     Before  the  sun. 
Before  the  Heavens  thou  wert,  and  a{  the  voice 
Of  God  as  with  a  mantle  didst  invest 
The  rising  world  of  waters  dark  and  deep. 
Won  from  the  void  and  formless  Infinite!  " 

Later  in  spring  there  was  plowing,  though  the  farm 
was  so  rocky  and  stony,  there  was  little  of  that  work  to 
do.  But  here  and  there,  a  sunny  hilltop  field  made 
cultivation  worth  while,  and  as  he  followed  the  patient 
oxen  along  the  shining  brown  furrow,  he  looked  away  to 
the  encircling  hills  so  full  of  mystery  and  fascination. 
What  was  there  ?     What  was  beyond  ?     Then  into  the 


38  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

ever-handy  text  book  lie  plunged  for  information,  the 
key  to  open  the  treasures  of  that  wonderful  world. 

This  struggle  with  nature  had  other  results,  too.  It 
taught  him  the  worth  of  persistent  effort.  The  outlook 
for  any  return  from  such  work  was  discouraging. 
!N^evertheless,  unyielding  labor  with  stones  and  weeds 
brought  a  reward,  if  the  fight  were  not  given  up.  The 
child  could  see  with  his  own  eyes  the  result  of  what 
had  seemed  fruitless  labor,  and  the  lesson  sank  deep 
into  his  receptive  mind. 

Sundays  he  went  to  church,  not  because  he  wanted  to, 
but  because  his  father  commanded  it.  The  white- 
painted  Methodist  church  was  but  a  stone's  throw  from 
the  farmhouse  and  Martin  Conwell  was  one  of  the  lead- 
ing members.  The  family  pew  was  well  up  to  the  front 
and  once  in  it,  there  was  no  escape.  Through  the  win- 
dows he  could  see  the  far  distant  mountains,  the  nearer 
green  woods,  an  enchanted  land  where  dwelt  chip- 
munks, foxes,  birds,  all  manner  of  interesting  live 
things.  The  brook  ran  so  close  to  the  church  that  its 
voice  could  plainly  be  heard.  He  often  listened  far 
more  attentively  to  it  than  to  the  minister.  The  pews 
were  plain  wooden  affairs  with  hard  seats,  and  when  he 
first  went  there,  they  were  so  high  his  feet  could  not 
reach  the  floor  —  verily  a  place  of  torture  to  an  active, 
restless  boy  who  never  could  keep  still.  The  only  way 
to  achieve  the  quietness  the  place  imposed,  was  to  sleep. 
But  he  never  succeeded  in  accomplishing  more  than 
three  winks  before  his  father's  eye  detected  it  and  his 
mother  gently  woke  him.  For  it  was  unseemly  to  sleep 
in  church !  Then  he  would  stealthily  abstract  a  pen- 
knife and  a  piece  of  wood  and  begin  to  whittle.  This 
kept  him  awake  —  not    only    the    whittling,  but  the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  39 

watchfulness  it  entailed  to  stop,  and  to  assume  an 
innocent,  attentive  look  whenever  his  father's  eyes 
turned  toward  him.  For  if  he  were  discovered  whit- 
tling in  church,  punishment  sure  and  painful  followed. 
Little  wonder  he  grew  up  to  dislike  chiirch,  as  many 
another  boy  has  done.  The  barren,  unattractive  build- 
ing in  itself  did  not  appeal  to  him.  The  beautiful 
stories  and  lessons  his  mother  told  him  did  not  seem 
the  same  when  thundered  from  the  pulpit.  And  most 
of  the  time  he  did  not  know  what  the  preacher  was  talk- 
ing about.  1^0  doubt  it  was  the  penance  he  did  in  this 
church  as  a  boy  that  led  to  the  inauguration  of  the 
^'  Young  People's  Church  "  which  the  boys  and  girls 
of  Philadelphia  so  thoroughly  enjoy,  each  Sunday 
morning  at  The  Temple. 

But  though  he  had  now  plunged  into  study  with  a 
will,  and  though  his  father  kept  him  busy  about  the 
farm,  the  overflowing  vitality,  the  mischievous  spirit 
at  times  broke  bounds.  Then  there  were  doings  that 
set  the  neighbors  talking  and  many  to  prophesying  no 
good  end  for  "that  boy  of  Martin  Ck)nwell's." 

About  a  mile  below  the  house,  perched  high  on  the 
mountain  side,  sat  a  tremendous  gray  rock.  It  rested 
on  the  brow  of  Walnut  Hill,  which  rises  three  hundred 
to  four  hundred  feet  above  a  turbulent  mountain  tor- 
rent, A  gray  giant  it  was  nine  feet  high,  ten  feet  in 
diameter.  With  calculating  eyes,  Russell  had  many 
a  time  eyed  it,  thinking  what  a  glorious  crash  and 
splash  it  would  make,  if  it  could  be  loosed  from  its  rocky 
perch  and  sent  thundering  down  the  mountain  side. 
With  boyish  eloquence,  he  enlisted  his  brother  Charles 
in  the  project,  and  securing  two  iron  bars  they  set 
out  one  morning  intent  on  achieving  this  result.     All 


40  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

the  morning  and  well  into  the  afternoon  they  pried  and 
labored.  They  dug  away  earth  and  exerted  to  the  nt- 
most  their  childish  strength.  Charles  would  soon  have 
given  up  the  gigantic  task,  but  Russell  was  not  of  the 
stuff  that  quits,  and  so  they  toiled  on.  The  father  and 
mother  at  home  wondered  and  searched  for  the  boys. 
Then  as  they  began  truly  to  get  alarmed,  from  the 
woods  to  the  south  came  a  crash  and  roar,  the  sound  of 
trees  snapping  and  then  a  shock  that  made  the  earth 
tremble.  The  rock  had  fallen,  traversing  a  mile,  in  its 
dovsTiward  rush  to  the  river  bed.  Flushed  and  tri- 
umphant the  boys  returned,  and  the  neighbors  who  had 
heard  the  noise,  when  it  was  explained  to  them,  went  to 
see  the  wreckage.  It  had  dropped  first  a  fall  of  fifteen 
feet,  where  it  had  paused  an  instant.  Then  the  earth 
giving  way  under  its  tons  of  weight,  it  had  plowed 
a  deep  fuiTOW  right  down  the  mountain  side,  dislodging 
rocks,  uprooting  trees,  until  with  a  mighty  crash,  it 
struck  the  borders  of  the  stream  where  it  stands  to 
this  day,  a  monument  to  boyish  ingenuity  and  perse- 
verance. 

But  of  all  the  mischievous  pranks  of  these  childish 
days,  the  one  that  had  perhaps  the  gi^eatest  influence  on 
his  life  was  the  capture  of  an  eagle's  nest  from  the  top 
of  a  dead  hemlock.  To  the  north  of  the  farmhouse  a 
hill  rises  abruptly,  covered  with  bare,  outcropping  rocks, 
their  fronts  sheer  and  steep.  On  top  clusters  a  little 
sombre  grove  of  hemlock  trees,  and  from  the  midst  of 
these  rose  the  largest  one,  straight,  majestic,  swaying 
a  little  in  the  wind  that  swept  on  from  the  distant  hills. 
In  the  top  of  this  tree,  an  eagle  had  built  her  nest,  and 
it  had  long  been  a  secret  ambition  of  the  boy  to  cap- 
ture it,  tlie  more  resolved  upon  because  it  seemed  im- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  41 

possible.  One  dav  in  October  lie  left  his  sheep,  ran 
to  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  with  the  svire-footed  agility 
of  a  mountain  boy  climbed  the  rocks  and  began  the 
ascent  of  the  tree.  From  the  top  of  a  high  ledge  nearby 
two  men  hid  and  watched  him.  A  fall  meant  death, 
and  many  a  time  their  hearts  stood  still,  as  the  intrepid 
lad  placed  his  foot  on  a  dead  branch  only  to  have  it 
break  under  him,  or  reached  for  a  limb  to  find  it  give 
way  at  his  touch.  The  tree  was  nearly  fifty  feet  high 
and  at  some  time  a  stroke  of  lightning  had  rent  it, 
splintering  the  trunk.  Only  one  limb  was  left  whole, 
the  others  had  been  broken  off  or  shattered  by  the  storms 
of  winter.  In  the  very  crown  of  the  tree  swayed  the 
nest,  a  rude,  uncouth  thing  of  sticks  and  hay. 

Up  and  up  he  climbed,  stopping  every  now  and  then 
in  the  midst  of  his  struggles  to  call  to  the  sheep  if  he 
saw  them  wandering  too  far.  He  had  only  to  call  them 
by  name  to  bring  them  nibbling  back  again. 

"  l^ot  a  man  in  the  mountains,"  wrote  one  of  those 
who  watched  him  in  that  interesting  sketch  of  Mr.  Con- 
well's  life,  "  Scaling  the  Eagle's  Nest,"  "  would  have 
thought  it  possible  to  do  anything  else  but  shoot  that 
nest  down.  When  we  first  saw  him  he  was  half  way 
up  the  great  tree,  and  was  tugging  away  to  get  up 
by  a  broken  limb  which  was  swinging  loosely  about  the 
trunk.  For  a  long  time  he  tried  to  break  it  off,  but  his 
little  hand  was  too  weak.  Then  he  came  down  from 
knot  to  knot  like  a  squirrel,  jumped  to  the  ground,  ran 
to  his  little  jacket  and  took  his  jack-knife  out  of  the 
pocket.  Slowly  he  clambered  up  again.  When  he 
reached  the  limb,  he  clung  to  another  with  his  left  hand, 
threw  one  leg  over  a  splintered  knot  and  with  the  right 
hand  hacked  away  with  his  knife. 


42  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELi; 

"  '  He  will  give  it  up,'  we  both  said. 

"  But  he  did  not.  He  chipped  away  until  at  last  the 
limb  fell  to  the  ground.  Then  he  pocketed  his  knife, 
and  bravely  strove  to  get  up  higher.  It  was  a  dizzy 
'  height  even  for  a  grown  hunter,  but  the  boy  never  looked 
down.  He  went  on  until  he  came  to  a  place  about  ten 
feet  below  the  nest,  where  there  was  a  long,  bare  space 
on  the  trunk,  with  no  limbs  or  knots  to  cling  to.  He 
was  baffled  then.  He  looked  up  at  the  nest  many  times, 
tried  to  find  some  place  to  catch  hold  of  the  rough 
bark  and  sought  closely  for  some  rest  higher  up  to  put 
his  foot  on.  But  there  was  none.  An  eagle's  nest  was 
a  rare  thing  to  him,  and  he  hugged  the  tree  and  thought. 
Suddenly  he  began  to  descend  again  hastily,  and  soon 
dropped  to  the  ground.  Away  he  ran  down  through  the 
ravines,  leaped  the  little  streams  and  disappeared 
toward  his  home.  In  a  few  minutes  the  torn  straw  hat 
and  blue  shirt  came  flitting  back  among  the  rocks  and 
bushes.  He  called  the  sheep  to  him,  talked  to  them, 
and  shook  his  finger  at  them,  then  he  clambered  up  the 
tree  again,  dragging  after  him  a  long  piece  of  his 
mother's  clothes  line.  At  one  end  of  it,  he  had  tied  a 
large  stone,  which  hindered  his  progress,  for  it  caught 
in  the  limbs  and  splinters.  The  wind  blew  his  torn 
straw  hat  away  down  a  side  cliff,  and  one  side  of  his 
trousers  was  soon  torn  to  strips.  But  he  went  on. 
"When  he  got  to  the  smooth  place  on  the  tree  again,  he 
fastened  one  end  of  the  rope  about  his  wrist,  and  then 
taking  the  stone  which  was  fastened  to  the  other  end,  he 
tried  to  throw  it  up  over  the  nest.  It  was  an  awkward 
and  dangerous  position,  and  the  stone  did  not  reach  the 
top.     Six  or  seven  times  he  threw  that  stone  up,  and  it 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  43 

ifell  sliort  or  went  to  one  side,  and  nearly  dragged  liim 
down  as  it  fell. 

"  The  boy  felt  for  his  knife  again,  opened  it  with  liig 
teeth  as  he  held  on,  and  hauling  the  rope  up,  cut  off  a 
part  of  it.  He  threw  a  sliort  piece  around  the  trunk 
and  tied  himself  with  it  to  the  tree.  Then  he  could 
lean  back  for  a  longer  throw.  He  tied  the  rope  to  his 
hand  again,  and  threw  the  stone  with  all  his  energy. 
It  went  straight  as  an  arrow,  drew  the  rope  squarely 
over  the  nest  and  fell  down  the  other  side  of  the  tree. 
After  a  struggle  he  reached  around  for  the  stone,  and 
tied  that  end  of  the  rope  to  a  long  broken  limb.  When 
he  drew  the  other  end  of  the  rope  which  had  been  fas- 
tened to  his  hand,  it  broke  down  the  sides  of  the  nest, 
and  an  old  bird  arose  with  a  wild  scream. 

"  Then  he  loosed  the  rope  which  held  him  to  the  tree, 
and  pulling  himself  up  with  his  hands  on  the  scaling 
line,  digging  his  bare  toes,  heels  and  knees  at  times  into 
the  ragged  bark,  he  was  up  in  two  minutes  to  the  nest." 

"  That  is  a  child's  ambition,"  said  one  of  the  men,  as 
they  both  drew  a  breath  of  relief,  ^when  he  stepped 
safely  to  the  ground.  "  Wait  until  he  has  a  man's 
ambition.  If  that  vein  of  perseverance  doesn't  run  out, 
he  will  do  something  worth  while." 


CHAPTER  IV 

TWO  MEN  AND  THEIR  INFLUENCE 

John     Brown.     Fireside     Discussions.     Runaway     Slaves.     Fred 
Douglas.     Eev.  Asa  Niles.     A  Runaway  Trip  to  Boston. 

TWO  MEN"  entered  into  Eussell  Conwell's  life  in 
these   formative   days    of  boyhood  "who  uncon- 
sciously had  much  to  do  with  the  course  of  his 
after  life. 

One  was  John  Brown,  that  man  "  who  would  rush 
through  fire  though  it  burn,  through  water  though  it 
drown,  to  do  the  work  which  his  soul  knew  that  it  must 
do."  During  his  residence  in  Springfield,  this  man 
"possessed  like  Socrates  with  a  genius  that  was  too 
much  for  him"  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  Conwell 
home.  Russell  learned  to  know  that  face  with  "fea- 
tures chiselled,  as  it  were,  in  granite,"  the  large  clear 
eyes  that  seemed  fairly  to  change  color  with  the  intensity 
of  his  feelings  when  he  spoke  on  the  one  subject  that 
was  the  very  heart  of  the  man.  Tall,  straight,  lithe, 
with  hair  brushed  back  from  a  high  forehead,  thick,  full 
beard  and  a  wonderful,  penetrating  voice  whose  tones 
once  heard  were  never  forgotten,  his  arrival  was  always 
received  with  shouts  by  the  Conwell  bo^ys.  Had  he  not 
lived  in  the  West  and  fought  real  Indians!  What 
surer  "  open  sesame  "  is  there  to  a  boy's  heart  ?  He 
was  not  so  enrapt  in  his  one-  great  project,  but  that 
he  could  go  out  to  the  barn  and  pitch  down  hay  froni 

44 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  45 

■the  mow  with  Russell,  or  tell  him  wonderful  stories  of 
tJie  great  West  where  he  had  lived  as  a  boj,  and  of  the 
wilderness  through  which  he  had  tramped  as  a  mere 
child  when  he  cared  for  his  father's  cattle.  Russell 
was  entirely  too  young  to  grasp  the  meaning  of  the 
earnest  discussions  that  went  on  about  the  fireplace  of 
which  this  Spartan  was  then  the  centre.  But  in  later 
years  their  meaning  came  to  him  with  a  peculiar  sig- 
nificance. A  light  seemed  to  be  shed  on  the  hon'ors  of 
slavery  as  if  the  voice  of  his  childhood's  friend  were 
calling  from  the  grave  in  impassioned  tones,  to  aid  the 
cause  for  which  he  had  given  his  life. 

Martin  Conwell,  progressive,  aggressive,  was  not  a 
man  to  let  his  deeds  lag  behind  his  words.  Such  help 
as  he  could,  he  lent  the  cause  of  the  oppressed.  He 
made  his  home  one  of  the  stations  of  the  "  Underground 
Railway,"  as  the  road  to  freedom  for  escaping  slaves 
was  called.  Many  a  time  in  the  dead  of  night,  awak- 
ened by  the  noise  of  a  wagon,  Russell  would  steal  to  the 
little  attic  window,  to  see  in  the  light  of  the  lantern, 
a  trembling  black  man,  looking  fearfully  this  way  and 
that  for  pursuers,  being  hurried  into  the  bam.  Back  to 
bed  went  Russell,  where  his  imagination  pictured  all 
manner  of  horrible  cruelties  the  slaves  were  suffering 
until  the  childish  heart,  was  near  to  bursting  with  sym- 
pathy for  them  and  with  fiery  indignation  at  the  in- 
justice that  brought  them  to  this  pitiful  state.  Not 
often  did  he  see  them,  but  sometimes  childish  curiosity 
was  too  strong  and  he  searched  out  the  cowering  fugi- 
tive in  the  bam,  and  if  the  nmaway  happened  to  be 
communicative,  he.  heard  exaggerated  tales  of  cruelty 
that  set  even  his  young  blood  to  tingling  with  a  mighty 
desire  to  right  their  wrongs.     Then  the  next  night,  the 


46  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

wagon  wheels  were  heard  again  and  the  slave  was  hur- 
ried away  to  the  house  of  a  cousin  of  William  Cullen 
Bryant,  at  Cummington.  As  the  wheels  died  in  the 
distance  up  the  mountain  road,  the  boyish  imagination 
pictured  the  flight,  on,  on,  into  the  far  north  till  the 
Canada  border  was  reached  and  the  slave  free.  Little 
wonder  that  when  the  war  broke  out,  this  boy,  older 
grown,  spoke  as  with  a  tongue  of  fire  and  swept  men  up 
by  the  hundreds  with  his  impassioned  eloquence,  to  sign 
the  muster  roll. 

One  of  these  slaves  thus  helped  to  freedom  is  now 
Eev.  J.  G.  Ramage,  of  Atlanta,  Ga.  In  1905,  he 
applied  to  Temple  College  for  the  degree  of  LL.D. 
iN'oticing  on  the  letter  sent  in  reply  to  his  request,  the 
name  of  Russell  Conwell,  President  of  the  College,  he 
wrote  Dr.  Conwell,  telling  him  that  in  1856  when  a 
runaway  slave  he  had  stopped  at  a  farmhouse  at  South 
Worthington,  Mass.,  and  remembered  the  name  of  Con- 
well. Undoubtedly  Martin  Conwell  was  one  of  the  men 
who  had  helped  him  to  freedom. 

John  Brown  brought  Fred  Douglas,  the  colored 
orator,  with  him  on  one  of  his  visits.  When  Russell 
was  told  by  his  father  that  this  was  "  a  celebrated  col- 
ored speaker  and  statesman,"  the  boyish  eyes  opened 
wide  with  amazement,  and  not  able  to  control  himself, 
he  burst  out  in  a  fit  of  laughter,  saying,  "  Wliy,  he's 
not  black,"  much  to  the  amusement  of  Douglas,  who 
afterwards  told  him  of  his  life  as  a  slave. 

The  other  man  who  so  helped  Russell  in  his  younger 
days  was  the  Rev.  Asa  Niles,  a  cousin  of  his  father's  who 
lived  on  a  neighboring  farm.  He  had  heard  of  Russell's 
various  exploits  and  saw  that  .he  was  a  boy  far  above 
the  average,  that  he  had  talents  worth  training.     Him- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  47 

self  a  scholar  and  a  Methodist  minister,  he  knew  the 
vahie  of  an  education,  and  the  worth  to  the  world  of  a 
brilliant,  forceful  character  with  clear  ideas  of  right, 
and  high  ideals  of  duty.  He  was  a  man  far  ahead  of 
his  times,  broad-minded,  spiritual  in  its  best  sense, 
and  with  a  winning  personality,  just  the  man  to  attract 
a  clear-sighted,  keen-witted  boy  who  quickly  saw  through 
shams  and  despised  affectations.  Russell  at  that  plastic 
period  could  have  fallen  into  no  better  hands.  With 
loving  interest  in  the  boy's  welfare,  Asa  Kiles  inspired 
him  to  get  the  broadest  education  in  order  to  make  the 
most  of  himself,  yet  ever  held  before  him  the  highest 
ideals  of  life  and  manhood.  Out  of  the  stores  of  his 
own  knowledge  he  told  him  what  to  read,  helped,  en- 
couraged, talked  over  his  studies  with  him,  and  in 
every  way  possible  not  only  made  them  real  and  vital  to 
him,  but  at  every  step  aided  him  to  see  their  worth. 
His  curiosity  keenly  aroused,  his  ambitions  kindled 
by  his  studies,  Russell  was  restless  to  be  off  to  see 
this  great  world  he  had  read  and  studied  about. 
The  mountains  suddenly  seemed  like  prison  walls  hold- 
ing him  in.  An  uncontrollable  longin'g  swept  his  soul. 
He  determined  to  escape.  Telling  no  one  of  his  inten- 
tions, one  morning  just  before  dawn,  he  raised  the 
window  of  the  little  attic  in  which  he  and  his  brother 
slept,  climbed  out  over  the  roof  of  the  woodshed,  slipped 
to  the  ground  and  made  off  down  the  valley  to  seek  his 
fortune  in  the  world.  It  was  a  hasty  resolve.  In  a 
little  bundle  slung  over  his  shoulders  he  had  a  few 
clothes  and  something  to  eat.  How  his  heart  thumped 
as  he  went  down  the  familiar  path  in  the  woods,  crossed 
the  little  brook  and  began  the  tramp  toward  Hunting- 
ton!    Every  moment  he  expected  to  hear  his  father's 


48  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

footsteps  behind  him.  Charles  might  have  awakened, 
found  him  missing  and  roused  the  family !  When 
morning  came  he  climbed  a  little  hill,  from  which  he 
could  look  back  at  the  house.  He  gazed  long,  and  his 
heart  nearly  failed  him.  He  could  see  in  imagination 
every  homely  detail  of  the  living  room,  his  father's  chair ^ 
to  the  right  of  the  fireplace,  his  mother's  on  the  left,  the 
clock  between  the  front  windows,  which  his  father 
wound  every  night.  On  a  nail  hung  his  old  rimless 
hat,  Charlie's  coat,  and  the  little  sister's  sunbonnet. 
His  mother  would  soon  be  up  and  getting  breakfast. 
They  would  all  sit  down  without  him  —  a  lump  began 
to  rise  in  his  throat  and  he  almost  turned  back. 
But  something  in  his  nature  always  prevented  him  from 
giving  up  a  thing  he  had  once  undertaken.  He  set 
his  teeth,  picked  up  his  bundle  and  went  down  the  road 
between  the  mountains,  the  woods  stretching,  dense, 
silent,  on  each  side,  the  little  brook  keeping  olose  by  him 
like  the  good,  true  friend  it  was. 

It  was  a  long,  long  tramp  to  the  little  village  of 
Huntington,  a  walk  that  went  for  miles  beneath  over- 
arching green  trees,  the  sunlight  sifting  down  like  a 
shower  of  gold  in  the  dim  wood  aisles.  The  wild 
mountain  stream  merged  into  the  quiet  Westfield  river 
that  flowed  placidly  through  little  sunny  meadows  and 
rippled  in  a  sedate  way  here  and  there  over  stones  as 
became  the  dignity  of  a  river.  Small  white  farm- 
houses, set  about  with  golden  lilies  and  deep  crimson 
peonies,  here  and  there  looked  out  on  the  road.  But 
his  mind  was  intent  on  the  wonderful  experiences  ahead 
of  him;  he  walked  as  in  a  dream.  Beaching  Hunt- 
ington, he  asked  a  conductor  if  he  could  get  a  job  on 
the  train  to  pay  his  way  to  Boston.     The  conductor 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  49 

eyed  the  lanky  country  boy  with  sympathetic  amusement. 
He  appreciated  the  situation  and  told  Russell  he  didn't 
think  he  had  any  job  just  then,  but  he  might  sit  in  the 
baggage  car  and  should  a  job  turn  up,  it  would  be  given 
him.  Delighted  with  this  piece  of  good  luck,  Russell 
sat  in  the  baggage  car  and  journeyed  to  Boston. 

He  arrived  at  night.  He  found  himself  in  a  new 
world,  a  world  of  narrow  streets,  of  hurrying  people,' 
of  house  after  house,  but  in  none  of  them  a  home  for 
him.  They  would  not  let  him  sit  in  the  station  all 
night,  as  he  had  planned  to  do  in  his  boyish  inex- 
perience, and  he  had  no  money,  for  money  was  a  scarce 
article  in  the  Conwell  home.  He  wandered  up  one 
street  and  down  another  till  finally  he  came  to  the  water. 
Footsore  and  hungry,  he  crawled  into  a  big  empty  cask 
lying  on  Long  "^^^larf,  ate  the  last  bit  of  bread  and  meat 
in  his  bundle,  and  went  to  sleep. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  not  a  day  to  find  work, 
and  he  faced  a  very  sure  famine.  He  began  again  his 
walk  of  the  streets.  It  was  on  toward  noon  when  he 
noticed  crowds  of  children  hurrying  into  a  large  build- 
ing. He  stood  and  Avatched  them  wistfully.  They 
made  him  think  of  his  brother  and  sister  at  home. 
Suddenly  an  ovenvhelming  longing  seized  him  to  be 
back  again  in  the  sheltering  farmhouse,  to  see  his  fatlier, 
hear  his  mothei-'s  loving  voice,  feel  his  sister's  hand  in 
his.  Perhaps  it  was  his  forlorn  expression  that  at- 
tracted tlie  attention  of  a  gentleman  passing  into  the 
building.  He  stopped,  asked  if  he  would  not  like  to 
go  in  ;  and  then  taking  him  by  the  hand  led  him  in  with 
the  others.  It  was  Deacon  George  W.  Chipman,  of 
Tremont  Temple,  and  ever  afterwards  Russell  Conwell'a 
friend.     Many,   many  years  later,  the  boy,  become  a 


50  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

man,  came  back  to  this  church,  organized  and  conducted 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  popular  Sunday  School 
classes  that  famous  church  has  ever  known. 

After  Sunday  School,  Deacon  Chipman  and  Russell 
''talked  things  over."  The  Deacon,  amused  and  im- 
pressed by  the  original  mind  of  the  country  boy,  per- 
suaded him  to  go  home,  and  the  next  morning  put  him 
on  the  train  that  carried  him  back  to  the  Berkshires. 


CHAPTEE  V 

TRYING  HIS  WINGS 

Boyhood  Days.    Bussell's  First  Case  at  Law.     A  Cure  for  Stage 
Fever.     Studying  Music.     A  Runaway  Trip  to  Europe. 

SO  SCAISTTT  was  the  income  from  the  rocky  farm 
that  the  father  and  mother  looked  about  them 
to  see  how  they  could  add  to  it.  Miranda  Con- 
well  turned  to  her  needle  and  often  sewed  far  into  the 
night,  making  coats,  neckties,  any  work  she  could 
obtain  that  would  bring  in  a  few  dollars.  She  was 
never  idle.  The  moment  her  housework  was  done,  her 
needle  was  flying,  and  Russell  had  ever  before  him  the 
picture  of  his  patient  mother,  working,  ever  working, 
for  the  family  good.  The  only  time  her  hands  rested 
was  when  she  read  her  children  such  Stories  and  pointed 
such  lessons  as  she  knew  were  needed  to  develop  childish 
minds  and  build  character.  She  never  lost  sight  of  this 
in  the  pressing  work  and  the  need  for  money.  She 
had  that  mental  and  spiritual  breadth  of  view  that 
could  look  beyond  problems  of  the  immediate  present, 
no  matter  how  serious  they  might  seem,  to  the  greater, 
more  important  needs  coming  in  the  future. 

Martin  Conwell  worked  as  a  stonemason  every  spare 
minute,  and  in  addition  opened  a  store  in  the  mountain 
home  in  a  small  room  adjoining  the  living  room. 
Neighbors  and  the  world  of  his  day  saw  only  a  poor 

farmer,    stonemason    and    small    storekeeper.     But   in 

51 


62  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

versatility,  energy  and  public  spirit,  he  was  far  greater 
than  his  environment.  Considered  only  as  the  man 
there  was  a  largeness  of  purpose,  a  broadness  of  mental 
and  spiritual  vision  about  him  that  gave  a  subtle  atmos- 
phere of  gi'eatness  and  unconsciously  influenced  his 
son  to  take  big  views  of  life. 

In  the  little  store  one  day  was  enacted  a  drama  not 
without  its  effect  on  Russell's  impressionable  mind.. 
For  a  brief  time,  the  store  became  a  court  room ;  a  flour 
barrel  was  the  judge's  bench,  a  soap  box  and  milking 
stool,  the  lawyers'  seats.  The  proceedings  greatly  in- 
terested Russell,  who  lay  flat  on  his  breast  on  the  counter, 
his  heels  in  the  air,  his  chin  in  his  hands,  drinking  it 
in  with  ears  and  eyes. 

A  neighbor  had  lost  a  calf,  a  white-faced  calf  with 
a  broken  horn.  In  the  barn  of  a  neighbor  had  been 
seen  a  white-faced  calf  with  a  broken  horn.  The  co- 
incidence was  suspicious.  The  plaintiff  dedared  it  was 
his  calf.  The  defendant  swore  he  had  never  seen  the 
lost  heifer,  and  that  the  one  in  his  bam  he  had  raised 
himself.  Neighbors  lent  their  testimony,  for  the  little 
store  was  crowded,  a  justice  of  the  peace  from  North- 
ampton having  come  to  try  the  case.  One  man  said 
he  had  seen  the  defendant  driving  a  white-faced  calf 
up  the  mountain  one  night  just  after  the  stolen  calf  had 
been  missed  from  the  pasture.  The  defendant  inti- 
mated in  no  mild  language  that  he  must  be  a  close 
blood  relation  to  Ananias.  Hot  words  flew  back  and 
forth  between  judge,  lawyers  and  witnesses,  and  it  began 
to  look  as  if  the  man  in  whose  bam  the  calf  was  placidly 
munching  was  guilty.  Just  then  Russell,  with  a 
chuckle,  slipped  from  the  counter  and  disappeare<l 
through  the  back  door.     In  a  minute  he  returned,  and 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  53 

solemnly  pushed  a  white-faced  calf  mth  a  broken  horn 
squarely  among  the  almost  fighting  disputants.  There 
was  a  lull  in  the  storm  of  angiy  words.  Here  was  the 
lost  calf.  With  a  bawl  of  dismay  and  many  gyrations 
of  tail,  it  occupied  the  centre  of  the  floor.  ISTone  could 
dispute  the  fact  that  it  was  the  calf  in  question.  The 
defendant  assumed  an  injured,  innocent  air,  the  plain- 
tiff looked  crestfallen.  Eussell  explained  he  had  found 
the  calf  among  his  father's  cows.  But,  knowing  the 
true  situation,  he  had  enjoyed  the  heated  argument  too 
hugely  to  produce  the  calf  earlier  in  the  case. 

The  event  caused  much  amusement  among  the  neigh- 
bors. Some  said  if  they  ever  were  hailed  to  court.,  they 
should  employ  Russell  as  their  lawyer.  The  women, 
when  they  dropped  in  to  see  his  mother,  called  him  the 
little  lawyer.  The  boyish  ambition  to  be  a  minister 
faded.  Once  more  he  went  to  building  castles  in  Spain, 
but  this  time  they  had  a  legal  capstone. 

Thus  the  years  rolled  by  much  as  they  do  with  any 
boy  on  a  farm.  Of  work  there  was  plenty,  but  he  found 
time  to  become  a  proficient  skater,  and  a  strong,  sturdy 
swimmer,  to  learn  and  take  delight  in  outdoor  sports, 
all  of  which  helped  to  build  a  constitution  like  iron,  and 
to  give  him  an  interest  in  such  things  which  he  has 
never  lost.  The  boys  of  Temple  College  find  in  him 
not  only  a  pastor  and  president,  but  a  sympathetic  and 
understanding  friend  in  all  forms  of  healthy,  honorable 
sport. 

Attending  a  Fourth  of  July  parade  in  Springfield, 
he  was  so  impressed  with  the  marching  and  manoeuvres 
of  the  troops  that  he  returned  home,  formed  a  company 
of  his  schoolmates,  drilled  and  marched  them  as  if  they 
were  already  an  important  part  of  the  G.  A.  R.     He 


U  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

secured  a  book  on  tactics  and  studied  it  with  his  usual 
thoroughness  and  perseverance.  He  presented  his 
company  with  badges,  and  one  of  the  relics  of  his  child- 
hood days  is  a  wooden  sword  he  made  himself  out  of  a 
piece  of  board.  Little  did  any  one  dream  that  this 
childish  pastime  would  in  later  years  become  the  serious 
work  of  a  man. 

In  all  the  school  and  church  entertainments  he  took 
an  active  part.  His  talent  for  organizing  and  man- 
aging showed  itself  early,  while  his  magnetism  and 
enthusiasm  swept  his  companions  with  him,  eager  only 
to  do  his  bidding.  Many  were  the  entertainments  ho 
planned  and  carried  through.  Recitations,  dialogues, 
little  plays  all  were  presented  under  his  management 
to  the  people  of  South  Worthington.  It  was  these  that 
gave  him  the  first  taste  of  the  fascination  of  the  stage 
and  set  him  to  thinking  of  the  dazzling  career  of  an 
actor.  He  is  not  the  only  country  boy  that  has  dreamed 
of  winning  undying  fame  on  the  boards,  but  not  every 
one  received  such  a  speedy  and  permanent  cure. 

"  One  day  in  the  height  of  the  maple  sugar  season," 
says  Burdette,  in  his  excellent  life  of  Mr.  Conwell, 
"  The  Modern  Temple  and  Templars,"  "  Russell  was 
sent  by  his  father  with  a  load  of  the  sugar  to  Hunting- 
ton. The  ancient  farm  wagon  complicated,  doubtless, 
with  sundry  Conwell  improvements,  drawn  by  a  vener- 
able horse,  was  so  well  loaded  that  the  seat  had  to  be 
left  out,  and  the  youthful  driver  was  forced  to  stand. 
Down  deep  in  the  valley,  the  road  runs  through  a  dense 
woodland  which  veiled  the  way  in  solitude  and  silence. 
The  very  place,  thought  Russell,  for  a  rehearsal  of 
the  part  he  had  in  a  play  to  be-  given  shortly  at  school ; 
a  beautiful  grade,  thought  the  horse,  to  trot  a  little  and 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  65 

make  up  time.  Russell  had  been  cast  for  a  part  of  a 
crazy  man  —  a  character  admirably  adapted  for  the 
entire  cast  of  the  average  amateur  dramatic  perform- 
er. He  had  very  little  to  say,  a  sort  of  *  The-carriage- 
waits-my-lord  '  declamation,  but  he  had  to  say  it  with 
thrilling  and  startling  earnestness.  He  was  to  rush  in 
on  a  love  scene  bubbling  like  a  mush-pot  with  billing 
and  cooing,  and  paralyze  the  lovers  by  shrieking  '  Woe ! 
Woe !  unto  ye  all,  ye  children  of  men  !  *  Throwing  up 
his  arms,  after  the  manner  of  the  Fourth  of  July  orator's 
justly  celebrated  windmill  gesture,  he  roared,  in  his 
thunderous  voice :     "  Woe !  Woe !  unto  ye  — ' 

"  That  was  as  far  as  the  declamation  got,  although 
the  actor  went  considerably  farther.  The  obedient 
horse,  never  averse  to  standing  still,  suddenly  and  firmly 
planted  his  feet  and  stood  —  motionless  as  a  painted 
horse  upon  a  painted  highway.  Russell,  obedient  to  the 
laws  of  inertia,  made  a  parabola  over  the  dashboard, 
landed  on  the  back  of  the  patient  beast,  ricochetted  to 
the  ground,  cutting  his  forehead  on  the  shaft  as  he  de- 
scended, a  scar  whereof  he  carries  unto  this  day,  and 
plunged  into  a  yielding  cushion  of  mud  at  the  road- 
side." 

He  returned  home,  a  confused  mixture  of  blood, 
mud,  black  eyes  and  torn  clothes.  Such  a  condition 
must  be  explained.  It  could  not  be  turned  aside  by 
any  off-handed  joke.  The  JGers  and  jibes,  the  unsym- 
pathetic and  irritating  comments  effectually  killed  any 
desire  he  cherished  for  the  life  of  the  stage.  It  became 
a  sore  subject.  He  didn't  even  want  it  mentioned  in 
his  hearing.  He  never  again  thought  of  it  seriously 
as  a  life  work. 

But  one  thing  these  entertainments  did  that  was  of 


m  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

great  value.  They  developed  and  fostered  a  love  of 
music  aud  eventually  led  to  his  gaining  the  musical 
education  which  has  proven  of  such  value  to  him.  He 
had  a  voice  of  singular  sweetness  and  great  power.  At 
school,  at  church,  in  the  little  social  gatherings  of  the 
neighborhood,  whenever  there  was  singing  his  voice  led. 
It  was  almost  a  passion  with  him.  At  the  few  parades 
and  entertainments  he  saw  in  nearby  towns,  he  watched 
the  musicians  fascinated.  He  was  consumed  with  a 
desire  to  learn  to  play.  Inventive  as  he  was  and  hav- 
ing already  made  so  many  things  useful  about  the  farm 
or  in  the  house,  it  is  a  wonder  he  did  not  immediately 
begin  the  making  of  some  musical  instrument  rather 
than  go  without  it.  Probably  he  would,  if  an  agent 
had  not  appeared  for  the  Estey  Organ  Company.  They 
were  beginning  to  make  the  little  home  organs  which 
have  since  become  an  ornament  of  nearly  every  country 
parlor.  But  they  were  rare  in  those  days  and  the  price 
to  Martin  Conwell,  almost  prohibitive.  Knowing  Rus- 
sell's love  of  music,  the  father  fully  realized  the  pleasure 
an  organ  in  the  home  would  give  his  son.  But  the 
price  was  beyond  him.  He  offered  the  man  every 
dollar  he  felt  he  could  afford.  But  it  was  ten  dollars 
below  the  cost  of  the  organ  and  the  agent  refused  it. 
Martin  Comvell  felt  he  must  not  spend  more  on 
a  luxury,  and  the  agent  left.  Crossing  the  fields  to 
seek  another  purchaser,  he  met  Miranda  Conwell.  She 
asked  him  if  her  husband  had  bought  the  organ.  His 
answer  was  a  keen  disappointment.  The  mother's  heart 
had  sympathized  with  the  boy's  passion  for  music  and 
knew  the  joy  such  a  possession  would  be  to  Russell. 
Ever  ready  to  sacrifice  herself,  *  she  told  the  man  she 
would  pay  him  the  ten  dollars,  if  he  would  wait  for  it, 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  57 

but  not  to  let  her  husband  know.  The  agent  retiiraed 
to  Martin  Conwell,  told  him  he  wonld  accept  his  offer, 
and  in  a  short  time  a  brand  new  organ  was  installed  in 
the  farmhouse.  Miranda  Conwell  sewed  later  at  nights, 
that  was  all.  ISTot  till  she  had  earaed  the  ten  dollars 
with  her  needle  did  she  tell  her  husband  why  the  agent 
had,  with  such  surprising  celerity,  changed  his  mind  in 
regard  to  the  price. 

Russell's  joy  in  the  organ  was  unbounded,  and  the 
mother  was  more  than  repaid  for  her  extra  work  by 
his  pleasure  and  delight.  He  immediately  plunged 
unaided  into  the  study  of  music,  and  he  never  gave  up 
imtil  he  was  complete  master  of  the  organ.  His  was 
no  half-hearted  love.  The  work  and  drudgery  con- 
nected with  practising  never  daunted  him.  He  kept 
steadily  at  it  until  he  could  roll  out  the  familiar  songs 
and  hymns  while  the  small  room  fairly  rang  with  their 
melody.  He  also  improvised,  composing  both  words 
and  music,  a  gift  that  went  with  him  into  tlie  ministry 
and  which  has  given  the  membership  of  Grace  Baptist 
Church,  Philadelphia,  many  beautiful  hymns  and 
melodies. 

Later  he  learned  the  bass  viol,  violoncello  and  cornet, 
and  made  money  by  playing  for  parties  and  enter- 
tainments in  his  neighborhood.  Years  afterward, 
when  pastor  of  Grace  Church,  and  with  the  Sunday 
School  on  an  excursion  to  Cape  May,  he  saw  a  comet 
lying  on  a  bench  on  the  pier.  Seized  with  a  longing 
to  play  again  this  instrument  of  his  boyhood,  he  picked 
it  up  and  began  softly  a  familiar  air.  Soon  lost  to  his 
surroundings,  he  played  on  and  on.  At  last  remem- 
bering where  he  was,  he  laid  down  the  instrument  and 
walked  away.     The  owner,  who  had  returned,  followed 


58  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

him  and  offered  him  first  five  dollars  and  then  ten  to 
play  that  night  for  a  dance  at  Congress  Hall. 

Martin  Conwell,  during  Russell's  boyhood  days,  care- 
fully guarded  his  son  from  being  spoiled  by  the  flattery 
of  neighbors  and  friends.  He  realized  that  Russell  was 
a  boy  in  many  ways  above  the  average,  but  his  practical 
common  sense  prevented  him  from  taking  such  pride  in 
Russell's  various  achievements  as  to  let  him  become 
spoiled  and  conceited.  Many  a  whipping  Russell  re- 
ceived for  the  personal  songs  he  composed  about  the 
neighbors.  But  that  was  not  prohibitive.  The  very 
next  night,  Russell  would  hold  up  to  ridicule  the  pecul- 
iarity of  some  one  in  the  neighborhood,  much  to  his 
victim's  chagrin  and  to  the  amusement  of  the  listeners. 
He  was  forever  inventing  improvements  for  the  fishing 
apparatus,  oars,  boats,  coasting  sleds,  household  and 
farm  utensils,  often  forgetting  the  tasks  his  father  had 
given  him  while  doing  it.  ISTaturally,  this  exasperated 
Martin  Conwell,  who  had  no  help  on  the  farm  but  the 
boys,  and  the  rod  would  again  be  brought  into  active 
service.  Once,  after  whipping  him  for  such  neglect  of 
work  —  he  had  left  the  cider  apples  out  in  the  frost 
—  Martin  Conwell  asked  his  son's  pardon  because  he 
had  invented  an  improved  ox-sled  that  was  of  great 
practical  value. 

When  he  was  fifteen  he  ran  away  again.  "No  friendly 
Deacon  Chipman  interfered  this  time,  nor  is  it  likely 
he  would  easily  have  been  turned  from  the  project,  for 
he  planned  to  go  to  Europe.  He  went  to  Chicopee  to 
an  uncle's,  whom  he  frankly  told  of  his  intended  trip. 
The  uncle  kept  Russell  for  a  day  or  two  by  various 
expedients,  while  he  wrote  to  his -father  telling  him  Rus- 
sell was  there  and  what  he  intended  doing.     The  father 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  59 

wrote  back  saying  to  give  liira  what  money  he  needed 
and  let  him  go.  So  Russell  started  on  his  journey  over 
the  sea.  He  worked  his  way  on  a  cattle  steamer  from 
New  York  to  Liverpool.  But  it  was  a  homesick  boy  that 
roamed  around  in  foreign  lands,  and  as  he  has  said  most 
feelingly  since,  "  I  felt  that  if  I  could  only  get  back 
home,  I  would  never,  never  leave  it  again."  He  did  not 
stay  abroad  long  and  when  he  returned  to  his  home,  his 
father  greeted  him  as  if  he  had  been  absent  a  few  hours, 
and  never  in  any  way,  by  word  or  action,  referred  to 
the  subject.  In  fact,  so  far  as  Martin  Conwell  appear- 
ed, E-ussell  might  have  been  no  farther  than  Hunting- 
ton. 

Thus  boyhood  days  passed  with  their  measure  of  work 
and  their  measure  of  play.  He  lived  the  healthy,  active 
life  of  a  farm  boy,  taking  a  keen  interest  in  the  affairs 
of  the  young  people  of  the  neighborhood,  amusing  the 
older  heads  by  his  mischievous  pranks.  He  diligently 
and  perseveringly  studied  in  school  hours  and  out.  He 
read  every  book  he  could  get  hold  of.  He  was  some- 
times disobedient,  often  intractable,,  in  no  way  different 
from  thousands  of  other  farm  boys  of  those  days  or 
these. 

But  the  times  were  coming  which  would  test  his 
mettle.  Would  he  continue  to  climb  as  he  had  done 
after  the  eagle's  nest,  though  compelled  many  times  to 
go  to  the  very  ground  and  begin  over  again  ? 

Would  the  experiences  of  life  transmute  into  pure 
gold,  these  undeveloped  traits  of  character  or  prove  them 
mere  dross  ?  It  rested  with  him.  He  was  the  alchem- 
ist, as  is  every  other  man.  The  philosopher's  stone  is  in 
every  one's  hands. 


CHAPTEK  VI 

OUT  OF  THE  HOME  NEST 

School  Days  at  Wilbraham  Academy.  The  First  School  Oration 
and  Its  Humiliating  End.  The  Hour  of  Prayer  in  the  Conwell 
Home  at  the  Time  of  John  Brown's  Execution. 

THE  carefree  days  of  boyhood  rapidly  drew  to  a 
close.  The  serious  work  of  life  was  beginning. 
The  bitter  struggle  for  an  education  was  at  hand. 
And  because  one  boy  did  so  struggle,  thousands  of  boys 
now  are  being  given  the  broadest  education,  practically 
free. 

Russell  had  gone  as  far  in  his  studies  as  the  country 
school  could  take  him.  Should  he  stop  there  as  his 
companions  were  doing  and  settle  down  to  the  work  of 
the  farm  ?  The  outlook  for  anything  else  was  almost 
hopeless.  He  had  absolutely  no  money,  nor  could  his 
father  spare  him  any.  Pie  knew  no  other  work  than 
farming.  It  was  a  prospect  to  daunt  even  the  most 
determined,  yet  Russell  Conwell  is  not  the  only  farmer's 
boy  who  has  looked  such  a  situation  in  the  face  and  suc- 
ceeded in  spite  of  it.  ISTor  were  helping  hands  stretched 
out  in  those  days  to  aid  ambitious  boys,  as  they  are  in 
these. 

Asa  IvTiles,  watching  Russell's  progress  with  loving 
interest,  told  Martin  Conwell  the  boy  ought  to  go  to 
Wilbraham  Academy.  His  own  son  William  was  go- 
ing, and  he  strongly  urged  that  Charles  and  Russell 

60 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  61 

Conwell  enter  at  the  same  time.  It  was  no  light  deci- 
sion for  the  father  to  make.  He  needed  the  boys  in  the 
work  on  the  farm.  'Not  only  was  he  unable  to  help 
them,  but  it  was  a  decided  loss  to  let  them  go.  Long 
and  earnest  were  the  consultations  the  father  and 
mother  held.  The  mother,  willing  to  sacrifice  herself 
to  the  utmost,  said,  of  course,  "  let  them  go,"  deciding 
she  could  earn  something  to  help  them  along  by  taking 
in  more  sewing.  So  it  was  decided,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1858,  Russell  and  his  brother  entered  the  Academy  of 
Wilbraham,  a  small  town  about  twelve  miles  east  from 
Springfield. 

It  was  bitter,  uphill  work.  All  the  money  the  two 
boys  had,  both  to  pay  their  tuition  and  their  board,  they 
earned.  They  worked  for  the  near-by  farmers.  They 
spent  long  days  gathering  chestnuts  and  walnuts  at  a 
few  cents  a  quart.  They  split  wood,  tliey  did  anything 
they  could  find  to  do.  In  fact,  they  worked  as  hard  and 
as  long  as  though  no  studies  were  awaiting  to  be  eagerly 
attacked  when  the  exhausting  labor  was  finished.  Such 
tasks  interfered  with  their  studies,  so  that  Russell  never 
stood  very  high  in  his  Academy  classes.  Part  of  the 
time  they  lived  in  a  small  room  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
village,  barren  of  all  furniture  save  the  absolutely  neces- 
sary, and  for  six  weeks  at  a  stretch,  lived  on  nothing  but 
mush  and  milk.  Their  clothes  were  of  the  cheapest 
kind,  countrified  in  cut  and  make,  a  decided  contrast 
to  those  of  tlieir  fellow  students,  who  came  from  homes 
of  wealth  and  refinement.  It  is  very  easy  for  outsiders 
and  older  heads  to  talk  philosophically  of  being  above 
such  things,  but  young,  sensitive  lx)ys  feel  such  a  posi- 
tion keenly  and  none  but  those  who  have  actually  en- 
dured such  a  martyrdom  of  pride  know  what  they  suf- 


62  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

fer.  It  takes  the  grittiest  kind  of  perseverance  to  face 
such  slights,  to  seem  not  to  see  the  amused  glance,  not 
to  hear  the  sneering  comment,  not  to  notice  the  con- 
temptuous shrug. 

Such  slights  Eussell  endured  daily  from  certain  of 
his  classmates,  and  though  he  realized  fully  that 
the  opinion  of  these  was  of  little  value,  nevertheless  they 
hurt  But  to  the  world  he  stood  his  ground  unflinch- 
ingly, even  if  there  were  secret  heartaches.  He  studied 
hard,  and  what  he  studied  he  learned.  He  had  his 
own  peculiar  way  of  studying.  Once  he  was  missing 
from  his  classes  several  days.  The  teachers  reported  it 
to  the  principal,  Dr.  Raymond,  who  investigated.  He 
found  Russell  completely  absorbed  in  history  and  mas- 
tering it  at  a  mile-a-minute  gait.  Dr.  Raymond  was 
wise  in  the  management  of  boys,  especially  such  a  boy 
as  Russell,  and  he  reported  to  the  teachers,  "  Let  him 
alone.  Conwell  is  working  out  his  own  education,  and 
it  isn't  worth  while  to  disturb  him," 

His  passion  for  debate  and  oratory  found  full  scope 
in  the  debating  societies  of  the  Academy.  These  wel- 
comed him  with  open  arms.  He  was  so  quick  with  his 
witty  repartee,  could  so  readily  turn  an  opponent's  ar- 
guments against  him,  that  the  nights  it  was  known  he 
would  speak,  found  the  "  Old  Club  "  hall  always  crowd- 
ed to  hear  "  that  boy  from  the  country'." 

Tlius  working  as  hard  as  though  he  were  doing  noth- 
ing else,  and  studying  as  hard  as  though  he  were  not 
working,  Russell  made  his  way  through  two  terms  of  the 
academic  year.  ISTobody  knows  or  ever  will  know,  all  he 
suffered.  Often  almost  on  the  point  of  starvation,  yet 
too  proud  and  sensitive  to  ask  for  help,  he  toiled  on, 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  63 

working  "by  day  and  studying  by  night.  He  never 
thought  of  giving  up  the  fight  and  going  back  to  the 
farm.  But  funds  completel|y  ran  out  for  the  spring 
term  and  he  yielded  the  struggle  for  a  brief  while,  re- 
turning to  help  his  father,  or  to  earn  what  he  could 
teaching  school,  or  working  on  neighboring  farms,  sav- 
ing every  cent  like  a  very  miser  for  the  coming  year's 
tuition.  In  addition,  he  kept  up  with  his  studies,  so 
that  when  he  returned  the  next  fall,  he  went  on  with 
his  class  the  same  as  if  he  had  attended  for  the  entire 
year. 

The  second  year  was  a  repetition  of  the  first,  work 
and  study,  grinding  poverty,  glorious  perseverance. 
Again  the  spring  term  found  him  out  of  funds,  and  this 
time  he  replenished  by  teaching  school  at  Blandford, 
Massachusetts.  Among  his  pupils  here  was  a  bully  of 
the  worst  type,  whose  conduct  had  caused  most  of  the 
former  teachers  to  resign.  In  fact,  he  was  quite  proud 
of  his  ability  to  give  the  school  a  holiday,  and  as  on 
former  occasions,  made  his  boasts  that  it  wouldn't  be 
long  before  the  new  teacher  would  take  a  vacation. 
The  other  pupils  watched  with  eager  curiosity  for  the 
conflict.  In  due  course  of  time  it  came.  Russell  at 
first  dealt  with  him  kindly.  It  hadn't  been  so  many 
years  since  he  himself  had  been  the  cause  of  numerous 
uproars  at  school.  But  this  youth  was  not  of  the 
kind  to  be  impressed  by  good  treatment.  He  simply 
took  it  as  a  showing  of  the  white  feather  on  the  part  of 
the  new  teacher  and  became  bolder  in  his  misconduct. 
On  a  day,  when  he  was  unruly  beyond  all  pardon, 
Russell  took  down  the  birch  and  invited  him  up  before 
the  school  to  receive  the  usual  punishment.  The  great 
occasion  had  come.     The  children  waited  with  bated 


64  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

breath.  The  boy  refused  openly,  sneerlngly.  The 
next  moment,  he  thought  lightning  had  struck  him. 
He  was  grabbed  by  the  neck,  held  with  a  grip  of  iron 
despite  all  his  struggles,  whipped  before  the  gaping 
school,  taken  to  the  door  and  kicked  out  in  the  snow. 
Then  the  school  lessons  proceeded.  It  made  a  sensa- 
tion, of  course.  Some  of  the  parents  wanted  to  request 
the  new  teacher  to  resign.  But  others  rallied  to  his 
support  and  protested  to  the  school  board  that  the  right 
man  had  been  found  at  last.  And  so  Russell  held  the 
post  until  the  school  term  was  over.  Thirty-five  years 
after,  R.ussell  Con  well,  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Temple, 
was  asked  to  head  a  petition  to  get  this  sam.e  evil  doer 
out  of  Sing  Sing  prison. 

But  despite  his  hard  work  and  hard  study  at  Wil- 
braham,  the  spirit  of  fun  cropped  out  as  persistently 
as  in  his  younger  days  at  the  country  school.  A  chance 
to  play  a  good  joke  was  not  to  be  missed.  "At  one  of 
the  school  entertainments,  a  student  whom  few  liked 
was  to  take  part.  Relatives  of  his  had  given  a  large 
sum  of  money  to  the  Academy,  and  on  this  account  he 
somewhat  lorded  it  over  the  other  boys.  He  was,  in 
addition,  foppish  in  his  dress,  and  on  account  of  his 
money,  position,  and  tailor,  felt  the  country  boys  of 
the  class  a  decided  drawback  to  his  social  status.  So 
the  country  boys  decided  to  "  get  even,"  and  they 
needed  no  other  leader  while  Russell  Conwell  was  about. 
Finally  it  came  the  dandy's  turn  to  go  on  the  platform 
to  deliver  a  recitation.  Just  as  he  stepped  out  of  the 
little  anteroom  before  the  audience,  Russell,  with  deft 
fingers,  fastened  a  paper  jumping-jack  to  the  tail  of 
his  coat,  where  it  dangled  back  of  his  legs  in  plain  view 
of  the  audience  but  unobserved  by  himself.     With  every 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  65 

gesture  the  figure  jumped,  climbed,  contorted,  and  went 
through  all  manner  of  gymnastics.  The  more  enthusi- 
astic became  the  young  orator,  the  more  active  the  tiny 
figure  in  his  rear.  The  audience  went  into  convulsions. 
Utterly  unable  to  tell  what  was  the  matter,  he  finally 
retired,  red  and  confused,  and  the  audience  wiped  away 
the  tears  of  laughter. 

It  was  at  one  of  these  entertainments  that  Russell 
himself  met  with  a  bitter  defeat.  A  public  debate 
was  announced  in  which  he  was  to  take  part.  His 
classmates  had  spread  abroad  the  story  of  his  eloquence 
and  the  hall  was  packed  to  hear  him.  Knowing  that 
it  would  be  a  great  occasion  and  conscious  of  his  poor 
clothes,  he  determined  to  make  an  impression  by  his 
speech.  He  prepared  it  with  the  utmost  care,  and  to 
"  make  assurance  doubly  sure,"  committed  it  to  memory, 
a  thing  he  rarely  did.  His  turn  came.  There  was  an 
expectant  rustle  through  the  audience,  some  almost 
audible  comments  on  his  clothes,  his  height,  his  thin- 
ness. He  cleared  his  voice.  He  started  to  say  the  first 
word.  It  was  gone.  Frantically  Jie  searched  his 
memory  for  that  speech.  His  mind  was  a  blank.  Again 
he  cleared  his  voice  and  wrestled  fiercely  with  his  inner 
consciousness.  Only  one  phrase  could  he  remember, 
and  shouting  in  his  thunderous  tones,  "  Give  me  liberty 
or  give  me  death,"  sat  down,  "  not  caring  much  which 
he  got,"  as  Burdette  says,  "  so  it  came  quickly  and 
plenty  of  it." 

It  was  while  at  Wilbraham  that  he  laid  down  text 
books  and  stepped  aside  for  a  brief  space  to  pay  honor 
to  a  hero.  Sorrow  hung  like  a  pall  over  the  little  home 
at  South  Worthington.  In  far-off  Virginia,  a  brave, 
true-hearted  man  had  raised  a  weak  arm  against  the 


66  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

hosts  of  slavery,  raised  it  and  been  stricken  down.  Jolin 
Brown  had  been  tried,  convicted  and  sentenced  to  be 
hanged.  The  day  of  his  execution  was  a  day  of  mourn- 
ing in  the  Conwell  home.  As  the  hour  for  the  deed 
drew  near,  the  father  called  the  family  into  the  little 
living  room  where  Brown  had  so  often  sat  among 
them.  And  during  the  hour  while  the  tragedy  was 
enacted  in  Virginia,  the  family  sat  silent  with  bowed 
heads  doing  reverence  to  the  memory  of  this  man  who 
with  single-minded  earnestness  went  forward  so  fear- 
lessly when  others  held  back,  to  strike  the  shackles  from 
those  in  chains. 

It  was  a  solemn  hour,  an  hour  in  which  worldly  am- 
bitions faded  before  the  sublime  spectacle  of  a  man 
freely,  calmly  giving  his  very  life  because  he  had  dared 
to  live  out  his  honest  belief  that  all  men  should  be  free. 
Like  a  kaleidoscope,  Brown's  history  passed  through 
Kussell's  mind  as  he  sat  there.  He  saw  the  brutal 
whipping  of  the  little  slave  boy  which  had  so  aroused 
Brown's  anger  when,  a  snail  boy  himself,  he  led  cattle 
through  the  western  forests.  Bussell's  hands  clenched 
as  he  pictured  it  and  he  felt  willing  to  fight  as  Brown 
had  done,  single-handed  and  alone  if  need  be,  to  right 
so  horrible  a  wrong.  He  could  see  how  the  idea  had 
grown  with  John  Brown's  growth  and  strengthened 
with  his  strength  until  he  came  to  manhood  with  a 
single  pui'pose  dominating  his  life,  and  a  will  to  do  it 
that  could  neither  be  broken  nor  bent.  He  pictured 
him  in  Kansas  when  son  after  son  was  laid  on  the  altar 
of  liberty  as  unflinchingly  as  Abraham  held  the  knife 
at  his  own  son's  breast  at  God's  behest.  Then  the  first 
blow  at  Harper's  Ferry  in  the  cause  of  liberty  for  all 
men  — ■  the  capture  of  the  town  of  three  thousand  by 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  67 

twentj-two  men,  and  now  this  —  the  public  execution 
—  the  fearless  spirit  that  looked  only  to  God  for  guid- 
ance, that  feared  neither  man  nor  man's  laws,  stopped 
on  the  very  threshold  of  the  supreme  effort  for  which 
he  had  planned  his  life.  Stopped  ?  It  was  the  2nd 
Massachusetts  Regiment  of  Infantry  that  was  the  first 
to  sing  on  its  way  South,  that  song,  afterward  sung  by 
the  armies  of  a  nation  to  the  steady  tramp  of  feet, 

"  John  Brown's  body  lies  mouldering  in  the  grave. 
But  his  soul  goes  marching  on." 


CHAPTEK  VII 

WAR'S  ALARMS 

College  Days  at  Yale.     The  Outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.     Patriotic 
Speechmaking.     New  York  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

SCHOOL  days  at  Wilbraham  ended,  Russell  deter- 
mined to  climb  higher.  As  yet,  he  scarcely  knew 
the  purpose  of  his  studying.  Ambitions  seethed 
in  him  to  know,  to  be  able  to  do.  He  only  realized  that 
he  must  have  the  tools  ready  when  the  work  came,  l^ot 
daunted,  therefore,  by  the  bitter  experiences  at  Wil- 
braham,  Russell  determined  to  go  to  Yale.  This  meant 
a  stern  fight  indeed,  one  that  would  call  out  all  his  re- 
serves of  determination,  perseverance  and  indifference 
to  the  jeers  and  jibes  of  unthinking  and  unfeeling  class- 
mates. But  he  did  not  flinch  at  the  prospect.  His 
brother  Charles  went  with  him,  and  in  the  fall  of  '60 
they  entered  Yale  College.  If  poverty  was  bitter  at 
Wilbraham,  it  was  bitterer  here.  They  were  utter 
strangers  among  hundreds  of  boys  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  the  majority  of  them  coming  from  homes  of 
luxury  and  with  money  for  all  their  needs.  At  Wil- 
braham, there  had  been  a  certain  number  of  boys  from 
their  own  section,  many  of  them  poor,  though  few  so 
poor  as  themselves.  They  had  not  felt  so  altogether 
alone  as  they  did  at  Yale.     It  is  perhaps  for  this  reason 

that  so  little  is  known  of  Russell  Conwell's  career  at 

68 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  69 

Yale.  He  was  as  unobtrusive  as  possible.  "  Silent  as 
the  Sphinx,"  some  describe  him.  His  sensitive  nature 
withdrew  into  itself,  and  since  he  could  not  mingle  with 
his  classmates  on  a  ground  of  equality,  he  kept  to  him- 
self, alone,  silent,  studying,  working,  but  telling  no  one 
how  keenly  he  felt  the  difference  between  his  own  posi- 
tion and  that  of  his  fellow  students.  He  worked  for 
the  nearby  farmers  as  at  Wilbraham  and  did  anything 
that  he  could  to  earn  money.  But  his  clothes  were  poor, 
his  manner  of  living  the  cheapest,  and  except  in  classes, 
his  fellow  students  met  him  little. 

He  took  the  law  course  and  followed  fully  the  clas- 
sical course  at  the  same  time  —  a  feat  no  student  at 
that  time  had  ever  done  and  few,  if  any,  since.  How 
he  managed  it,  working  as  hard  as  he  did  at  the  same 
time,  to  earn  money,  seems  impossible  to  comprehend. 
His  iron  constitution,  for  one  thing,  that  seemed  capable 
of  standing  any  strain,  helped  him.  And  his  remark- 
able ability  to  photograph  whole  pages  of  his  text  books 
on  his  memory  was  another  powerful  ally.  He  could 
reel  off  page  after  page  of  Virgil,  Homer,  Blackstone  — 
anything  he  "  memorized "  in  this  unusual  fashion. 
"Well  for  him  that  he  grasped  the  opportunity  to  learn 
this  method  presented  him  as  a  child.  But  it  has  al- 
ways been  one  of  the  traits  of  his  character  to  see  op- 
portunities where  others  walk  right  over  them,  and  to 
seize  and  make  use  of  them. 

He  did  not  register  in  the  classical  course  as  he  was 
too  poor  to  pay  the  tuition  fee,  nor  did  he  join  any 
of  the  clubs,  as  he  could  not  afford  it.  He  seldom  ap- 
peared In  debates  or  the  moot  courts,  for  he  was  so 
shabbily  dressed  he  felt  he  would  not  be  welcome.  It 
was  undoubtedly  these  humiliating  experiences,   com- 


70  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

bined  with  certain  of  liis  studies  and  reading,  that 
caused  him  to  drift  into  an  atheistic  train  of  thought. 
"Working  hard,  living  poor,  desiring  so  much,  yet  on 
all  sides  he  saw  hoys  with  all  the  opportunities  he 
longed  for,  utterly  indifferent  to  them.  He  saw  boys 
spending  in  riotous  dissipation  the  money  that  would 
have  meant  so  much  to  him.  He  saw  them  recklessly 
squandering  health,  time,  priceless  educational  oppor- 
tunities, for  the  veriest  froth  of  pleasure.  He  saw 
tliem  sowing  the  wind,  yet  to  his  inexperienced  eyes  not 
reaping  the  whirlwind,  but  faring  far  more  prosperously 
than  he  who  worked  and  studied  hard  and  yet  had  not 
what  they  threw  so  lightly  awny.  It  was  all  at  variance 
with  his  mother's  teaching,  with  such  of  the  preaching 
at  the  little  white  church  as  he  had  heard.  Bible 
promises,  as  he  interpreted  them,  were  not  fulfilled.  So 
he  scoffed,  cynically,  bitterly,  and  said,  as  many  an- 
other has  done  before  he  has  learned  the  lessons  of  the 
world's  hard  school,  "  There  is  no  God."  And  having 
said  it,  he  took  rather  a  pride  in  it  and  said  it  openly, 
boastingly. 

As  at  Wilbraham,  funds  ran  out  before  the  school 
year  was  completed  and  he  left  Yale  and  taught  district 
school  during  the  day  and  vocal  and  instrumental  music 
in  the  evenings. 

But  into  this  eager,  undaunted  struggle  for  an  educa- 
tion came  the  trumpet  call  to  arms.  With  the  memory 
of  John  Brown  like  a  living  coal  in  his  heart,  with 
the  pictures  of  the  cowering,  runaway  slaves  ever  before 
his  eyes,  he  flung  away  his  books  and  was  one  of  the 
first  to  enlist.  But  his  father  interfered.  Russell  was 
only  eighteen.  Martin  Conwell  went  to  the  recruiting 
ofiicer  and  had  his  name  taken  from  the  rolls.     It  was 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  71 

a  bitter  disappointment.  But  since  he  might  not  help 
with  his  hands,  he  spoke  with  his  tongue.  All  his  pent- 
np  enthusiasm  flowed  out  in  impassioned  speeches  that 
brought  men  by  the  hundreds  to  the  recruiting  offices. 
His  fame  spread  up  and  down  the  Connecticut  valley 
and  wherever  troops  were  to  be  raised,  "  the  boy  "  was 
in  demand. 

"  His  youthful  oratory,"  says  the  author  of  "  Scal- 
ing the  Eagle's  l^est,"  "  was  a  wonderful  thing  which 
drew  crowds  of  excited  listeners  wherever  he  went. 
Towns  sent  for  him  to  help  raise  their  quotas  of  sol- 
diers, and  ranks  speedily  filled  before  his  inspiring 
and  patriotic  speeches.  In  1862  I  remember  a  scene 
at  Whitman  Hall  in  Westfield,  Massachusetts,  which 
none  who  were  there  can  forget.  Russell  had  delivered 
two  addresses  there  before.  On  that  night  there  were 
two  addresses  before  his  by  prominent  lawyers,  but 
there  was  evident  impatience  to  hear  '  The  boy.'  When 
he  came  forward  there  was  the  most  deafening  applause. 
He  really  seemed  inspired  by  miraculous  powers.  Every 
auditor  was  fascinated  and  held  closely  bound.  There 
was  for  a  time  breathless  suspense,  and  then  at  some 
telling  sentence  the  whole  building  shook  with  wild  ap- 
plause. At  its  close  a  shower  of  bouquets  from  hun- 
dreds of  ladies  carpeted  the  stage  in  a  moment,  and 
men  from  all  parts  of  the  hall  rushed  forward  to  en- 
list." 

The  adulation  and  flattery  showered  upon  him  were 
enough  to  turn  any  other's  head.  But  it  made  no  im- 
pression upon  him.  Heart,  mind  and  soul  he  was 
MTapped  up  in  the  cause.  He  was  burning  with  zeal 
to  help  the  oppressed  and  sufl^ering.  His  words  poured 
from  a  heart  overflowing  with  pity,  love,  and  indigna- 


72  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

tion.  !N"ever  once  did  he  think  of  himself,  only  of  those 
in  bonds  crying,  "  Come  over  and  help  us." 

"V\Tien  Lincoln  made  his  great  address  in  Cooper  In- 
stitute in  1860,  Eussell  was  there.  It  was  a  longer 
journey  from  New  England  to  ISTew  York  in  those  days 
than  it  is  now,  and  longer  yet  for  a  boy  who  had  so  little 
money,  but  he  let  no  obstacle  keep  him  away. 

He  utilized  his  visit  also  to  hear  Beecher,  the  man 
who  had  taken  so  powerful  a  hold  of  his  childish 
fancy.  Ever  since  those  boyish  days  when  his  mother 
read  Beecher's  sermons  to  him,  and  standing  on  the  big 
gray  rock  he  had  imagined  himself  another  Beecher,  he 
had  longed  to  hear  this  great  man.  It  was  only  this 
childish  desire  holding  fast  to  him  through  the  years 
that  took  him  now,  for  church-going  itself  had  no  at- 
traction for  him. 

He  sat  on  the  steps  of  the  gallery  and  heard  this 
wonderful  man  preach  a  sermon  in  which  he  illustrated 
an  auctioneer  selling  a  negro  girl  at  the  block.  He  sat 
as  one  entranced.  So  did  the  immense  audience,  held 
spellbound  by  the  scene  so  graphically  pictured.  It  was 
the  first  interesting  sermon  he  had  ever  heard.  It  made 
a  tremendous  impression  on  him,  not  only  in  itself,  but 
as  a  vivid  contrast  between  the  formal,  rattling-of-dry- 
bones  sermon  and  the  live,  vital  discourse  that  takes 
hold  of  a  man's  mind  and  heart  and  compels  him  to  go 
out  in  the  world  and  do  things  for  the  good  of  his 
fellow  men.  Long  it  remained  in  his  memory,  but  the 
greatest  inspiration  from  it  did  not  come  till  later  years, 
when  suddenly  it  stood  forth  as  if  illumined,  to  throw 
a  brilliant  radiance  on  a  path  he  had  decided  to  tread. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

WHILE  THE   CONFLICT  RAGED 

Lincoln's  Call  for  100,000  Men.  Enlistment.  Captain  Conwell. 
In  Camp  at  Springfield,  Mass.  The  Famous  Gold-sheathed 
Sword. 

IlSr  1862,  Lincoln  sent  out  an  earnest  call  for  100,000 
men  for  the  war.     Eussell  was  not  longer  to  be 
denied,   and  his  father  permitted   him  to  enlist. 
What  silent  agony,  what  earnest  prayers  for  his  safety 
went  up  from  his  mother's  heart,  only  other  mothers  in 
those  terrible  days  knew. 

He  raised  a  company  from  Worthington,  Chesterfield, 
Huntington,  Russell,  Blandford  and  the  neighboring 
towns  and  was  unanimously  elected  captain,  though 
only  nineteen.  His  earnest,  fiery  speeches  had  already 
made  him  famous,  and  when  it  was  known  he  had  en- 
listed and  was  raising  a  company,  there  was  a  rush  to 
get  into  it,  and  the  men  as  with  one  voice,  demanded 
that  he  be  their  captain.  'No  one  ever  thought  of  can- 
vassing against  him.  A  committee  was  appointed  to 
wait  on  Governor  Andrew  to  persuade  him  to  commis- 
sion Russell  in  spite  of  his  age,  and  when  he  received 
the  appointment,  the  cheers  and  applause  of  the  en- 
thusiastic, the  quiet  satisfaction  of  the  sedate,  showed 
the  place  which  he  had  in  their  hearts.  It  is  almost 
incomprehensible  to  those  not  acquainted  with  the  man, 

but  those  who  have  come  in  contact  with  him,  know 

73 


74  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

what  a  hold  he  would  soon  gain  over  those  "  Mountain 
Boys,"  as  the  compan^  was  called.  Ills  kindly  sym- 
patliy  would  quickly  make  them  feel  that  in  their  cap- 
tain, each  had  a  warm  personal  friend.  His  generous 
heart  would  back  up  that  belief  with  a  hundred  and 
one  little  acts  of  thoughtful  kindness.  Over  each  and 
every  one  would  be  exercised  a  watchful  care  that 
cheered  the  long  days,  lightened  heavy  loads,  lessened 
discomforts.  It  is  little  wonder  that  tlieir  devotion  to 
him  amounted  almost  to  adoration.  Gray-haired  men 
followed  him  as  proudly  as  though  his  years  matched 
theirs.  Indeed,  to  their  loyalty  was  added  a  fatherty 
feeling  of  guardianship  over  him,  because  of  his  youth, 
that  brought  a  new  pleasure  into  the  relationship.  The 
company  was  knit  together  with  the  bonds  of  loving 
comradeship  as  were  few  others. 

The  rendezvous  of  the  company  was  at  Huntington, 
and  tlicre  a  banquet  was  given  before  the  troops  de- 
parted for  war.  Proud  day  for  him  when  he  marched 
down  the  familiar  road  from  South  Worthington, 
through  the  autumn  woods  with  their  slowly  falling 
leaves,  their  shadowy  forest  aisles  all  glorious  now  with 
the  banners  of  autumn,  past  the  white  farmhouses 
with  their  golden  lilies,  the  faithful  little  brook  singing 
ever  at  his  side.  Sad  day  for  his  mother  as  she  watched 
him  go,  long  looking  after  him,  till  she  could  see  no 
more  for  tears. 

From  Huntington  the  company  went  into  camp  at 
Springfield.  And  now  came  into  use,  those  tactics  and 
drills  he  had  studied  as  a  boy,  and  others  he  had  been 
secretly  studying  ever  since  the  war  broke  out.  His 
men  were  astonished  to  find  how  perfectly  at  home  he 
was    in   militarv   tactics.     It   further   added   to    their 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  75 

pride  in  liim.  Tliey  fully  expected  him  to  know  as 
little  as  they,  but  when  he  came  to  his  work  fully  pre- 
pared, to  their  admiration  of  him  as  an  orator,  their 
love  as  a  leader,  was  now  added  their  confidence  as  an 
officer. 

Camp  life  at  Springfield  made  war  no  longer  a  glo- 
rious contemplation  but  an  uncomfortable  reality.  The 
ground  for  a  bed,  a  spadeful  of  earth  for  a  pillow,  sharp 
mountain  winds,  cold  autumn  storms,  insufficient  food, 
hinted  at  the  hardships  to  follow.  The  gold  and  the 
alloy  in  the  men's  characters  began  to  shine  out,  and 
Company  F  soon  realized  in  practical  ways,  the  nature 
of  the  man  who  led  them.  His  new  uniform  overcoat 
went  to  a  shivering  boy,  his  rations  were  divided  with 
those  less  fortunate,  his  blankets  were  given  to  a  com- 
rade in  need.  Always  it  was  of  his  men,  not  himself, 
he  thought. 

Before  leaving  camp  for  the  seat  of  war.  Captain 
Conwell  was  presented  with  a  sword  by  his  Company, 
bearing  this  inscription  :  — 

"Presented  to  Captain  Russell  H.' Conwell  by  the 
soldiers  of  Company  F,  46th  Mass.  Vol.  Militia,  known 
as  '  The  Mountain  Boys.'  Vera  Amicitia  est  sempi- 
tema.  (True  friendship  is  eternal.)"  Colonel  Shurt- 
leff  made  the  speech  of  presentation.  The  passionately 
eloquent  reply  of  the  boy  captain  is  yet  remembered  by 
those  who  heard  it.  He  received  the  beautiful,  glitter- 
ing weapon  in  silence.  Slowly  he  drew  the  gleaming 
steel  from  its  g-olden  sheath  and  solemnly  held  it  up- 
ward as  if  dedicating  it  to  heaven,  the  sunlight  bathing 
the  blade  with  blinding  flashes  of  light.  His  eyes  were 
fixed  upon  the  steel,  as  if  in  a  rapt  vision,  he  swept  the 
centuries  past,  the  centuries  to  come,  and  saw  what  it 


76  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

stood  for  in  the  destinies  of  men.  Breathless  silence 
fell  upon  his  waiting  comrades.  Thus  for  a  few  mo- 
ments he  stood  and  then  he  spoke  to  the  sword. 

"  He  called  up  the  shade  of  the  sword  of  that  mighty 
warrior  Joshua,  which  purified  a  polluted  land  with 
libations  of  blood,  and  made  it  fit  for  the  heritage  of 
God's  people;  the  sword  of  David,  that  established  the 
kingdom  of  Israel;  the  sword  of  that  resistless  con- 
queror, Alexander,  that  pierced  the  heart  of  the  Orient ; 
the  Roman  short  sword,  the  terrible  gladius,  that  carved 
out  for  the  Casars  the  sovereignty  of  the  world;  the 
sword  of  Charlemagne,  writing  its  master's  glorious 
deeds  in  mingling  chapters  of  fable  and  history ;  the 
sword  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  smiting  the  battalions  of 
the  puissant  Wallenstein  with  defeat  and  overthrow, 
even  when  its  master  lay  dead  on  the  field  of  Lutzen; 
the  sword  of  Washington,  drawn  for  human  freedom, 
and  sheathed  in  peace,  honor,  and  victory ;  then  he  bade 
the  sword  remember  all  it  had  done  in  shaping  the  des- 
tinies of  men  and  nations ;  how  it  had  written  on  the 
tablets  of  history  in  letters  red  and  lurid,  the  drama  of 
the  ages;  closing,  he  called  upon  it  now,  in  the  battle 
for  the  Union,  to  strike  hard  and  strike  home  for  free- 
dom, for  justice,  in  the  name  of  God  and  the  Right ;  to 
fail  not  in  the  work  to  which  it  was  called  until  every 
shackle  in  the  land  was  broken,  every  bondman  free,  and 
every  foul  stain  of  dishonor  cleaned  from  the  flag." 


CHAPTER  IX 
IN  THE  THICK  OF  THE  FIGHT 

Company  F  at  Newberne,  N.  C.  The  Fight  at  Batchelor's  Creek. 
The  Goldsboro  Expedition.  The  Battle  of  Kingston.  The  Gum 
Swamp  Expedition. 

BREAKING  camp,  the  46th  left  the  beautiful, 
placid  scenery  about  Springfield,  its  silver  river, 
its  silent  mountains,  for  Boston,  where  they 
embarked  for  IsTorth  Carolina,  l^ovember  5th,  1862. 
They  sailed  out  of  Boston  Harbor  in  the  teeth  of  a 
winter  gale  which  increased  so  in  fury  that  the  boat 
was  compelled  to  put  back.  When  they  finally  did 
leave,  the  sea  was  still  very  rough  and  they  had  a  slow, 
stonny  passage. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  many  of  the  men  were  ill. 
The  boat  was  crowded,  the  accommodations  insufficient, 
and  numbers  of  the  Mountain  Boys  had  never  been  on 
the  water  before.  To  the  confusion  of  handling  such 
a  body  of  men  was  added  inexperience  in  such  work. 
The  members  of  Company  E  would  have  fared  badly 
had  it  not  been  for  the  forethought  of  their  boy  captain. 
It  seemed  as  if  he  had  passed  beforehand  in  mental  re- 
view, the  experiences  of  these  weeks  and  anticipated 
their  needs.  Out  of  his  own  funds,  he  laid  in  a  stock  of 
medicines  and  delicacies  for  the  sick.  Indeed,  those 
who  know,  say  that  he  expended  all  of  his  pay  in  sutler's 

77 


78  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

stores  and  various  things  to  make  his  men  more  com- 
fortable. JSTight  and  day,  he  was  with  those  who  suf- 
fered, cheering,  sympathizing,  nursing.  He  was  the 
life  of  the  ship.  His  men  saw  that  his  kindness  and 
comradeship  were  not  of  the  superficial  order,  but  gen- 
uine, sincere,  a  part  of  his  very  self  and  they  became, 
if  possible,  more  passionately  attached  to  him  than, 
ever. 

The  placid  JSTeuse  river  was  a  glad  sight  when  at  last 
they  reached  its  mouth  and  steamed  up  to  ISTewbeme, 
IsTorth  Carolina.  General  Bumside  had  already  cap- 
tured the  town  and  Company  F  began  army  duties  in 
earnest  with  garrison  work  in  the  little  Southern  city, 
with  its  long  dull  lines  of  earthworks,  its  white  tents, 
its  fleet  of  gunboats  floating  lazily  on  the  river.  The 
constant  tramp  of  soldiers'  feet  echoed  along  the  side- 
walks of  this  erstwhile  quiet.  Southern  town.  Sen- 
tries stood  on  the  comers  challenging  passers-by, 
wharves  creaked  under  the  loads  of  ordnance  and  quar- 
termasters' stores.  Army  wagons  and  ambulances  were 
constantly  passing  in  the  street,  all  strange  and  novel 
at  first  to  the  Mountain  Boys  but  soon  familiar.  Drill- 
ing and  guard  duty  filled  their  days.  Morning  and 
afternoon  they  drilled,  and  the  actual  possession  of  the 
enemies'  countiy,  the  warlike  aspect  of  everything  about 
them,  made  drilling  a  far  more  real  and  important  mat- 
ter than  it  had  seemed  at  home.  Captain  Conwell  felt 
his  responsibility  and  threw  himself  into  the  work  with 
an  earnestness  that  infected  his  men.  They  would 
rather  drill  with  him  two  hours  than  with  any  other 
officer  a  half  hour.  They  not  only  caught  the  contagion 
of  his  enthusiasm,  but  he  changed  the  dull,  monotonous 
drudgery  of  it,  into  real,  fascinating  work  by  marching 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  79 

them  into  seemingly  hopeless  situations  and  then  in 
some  unexpected  and  surprising  way,  extricating  them. 
'Nor  did  he  spare  himself  any  of  the  unpleasant  phases 
of  the  work.  One  day,  the  Colonel,  while  drilling  the 
regiment,  noticed  that  many  of  the  men  of  Company  F 
marched  far  out  of  their  places  to  avoid  a  mudhole  in 
the  road.  He  marched  and  countermarched  them  over 
the  same  ground  to  compel  the  men  to  keep  their  rank 
and  file  regardless  of  the  mud.  Captain  Conwell  saw 
his  object,  and  himself  plunged  into  the  mire,  his  men 
followed,  and  were  thus  saved  the  reprimand  which 
threatened. 

During  these  days.  Captain  Conwell  kept  up  with 
the  law  studies  abandoned  at  Yale.  Every  spare  min- 
ute, he  devoted  to  his  books  and  committed  to  memory, 
one  whole  volume  of  Blackstone  during  the  term  of  his 
first  enlistment.  ITot  many  of  the  soldiers  so  used  their 
hours  off  duty.  Eut  it  is  this  turning  of  every  minute 
to  account  that  has  enabled  Dr.  Conwell  to  accomplish 
so  much.  He  has  made  his  life  count  for  a  half  dozen 
of  most  person's  by  never  wasting  a  moment. 

The  monotony  of  garrison  duty  was  broken  first  by 
a  small  fight  at  Batchelor's  Creek,  seven  miles  above 
Newbem,  but  only  four  compajiies  were  engaged.  The 
Mountain  Boys  saw  the  first  blood  spilled  at  Kingston 
and  gained  there  the  first  glimpse  of  the  horrors  of  war. 
!N'early  the  entire  marching  force  was  sent  into  the  in- 
terior on  this  expedition,  known  as  the  Goldsboro  ex- 
pedition, the  object  being  to  cut  the  Weldon  railroad 
at  Goldsboro,  ISTorth  Carolina.  It  was  a  hard  march 
with  short  and  uncertain  halts  and  occasional  cavalry 
skirmishes.  At  Kingston,  they  met  the  enemy  in  force. 
The  Confederates  were  massed  about  the  bridge  over 


80  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

the  N'euse  river  and  held  it  bravely  till  the  charge  of 
the  9th  New  Jersey  and  10th  Connecticut  drove  them 
from  their  position  and  left  the  woods  and  a  little  open 
field  covered  with  the  dead  and  dying.  The  46th  Mas- 
sachusetts followed  the  retreating  army  and  had  that 
first  experience  with  the  gTim,  bloody  side  of  war  that 
always  makes  such  a  strong  impression  on  the  green 
soldier. 

They  bivouacked  at  Kingston  and  next  day  marched 
to  the  Weldon  railroad,  reaching  it  at  the  bridge  below 
Goldsboro,  where  the  Confederates  had  massed  a  large 
body  of  troops  to  protect  their  lines  of  communication 
and  supplies.  This  was  a  battle  in  earnest,  the  artil- 
lery was  deafening,  and  the  enemy  repeatedly  charged 
the  Union  lines.  The  ISTorthem  batteries  were  on  a  knoll 
in  front,  and  at  the  very  moment  that  a  long  line  of 
gray  was  seen  approaching  through  this  field  and  the 
Massachusetts  men  were  ordered  to  lie  down,  so  that 
the  shot  and  shell  could  pass  over  them,  their  boy  cap- 
tain walked  openly  forward  to  the  batteries  and  stood 
there  in  the  smoke.  Careless  of  himself,  he  yet  real- 
ized to  the  full  the  meaning  of  this  grim  duel,  for  when 
the  fight  was  over  and  the  IsTorthem  men  cheering,  he 
was  silent.  Captain  Walkley  asked  wh^  he  did  not 
cheer  with  the  others.  "  Too  many  hearts  made  sad 
to-day,"  was  the  significant  reply  that  showed  he  counted 
the  cost  to  its  bitter  end,  though  he  went  fonvard  none 
the  less  bravely. 

Long,  monotonous  days  of  garrison  duty  followed  for 
the  men,  days  of  drilling,  of  idling  up  and  down  the 
streets  of  the  dull  Southern  town.  But  Captain  Con- 
well  used  his  spare  minutes  to  advantage,  and  when  no 
work  connected  with  his  company  or  the  personal  wel- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  81 

fare  of  his  comrades  occupied  him,  he  was  studying. 
Then  came  the  order  to  drive  the  Confederates  from  a 
fort  they  were  erecting  on  the  ISTewbern  Railroad  about 
thirty  miles  inland.  This  expedition,  known  as  the  Gum 
Swamp  Expedition,  was  an  experience  that  tested  the 
mettle  of  the  men  and  the  resources  of  the  young  cap- 
tain, and  an  experience  none  of  the  survivors  ever  for- 
got. It  was  a  forced  march,  a  quick  charge.  The 
Confederates  fled  leaving  their  fort  unfinished.  The 
Union  men  having  successfully  completed  their  work, 
began  the  return  to  I^ewberne,  and  here  disaster  over- 
took them.  The  Confederates  hung  on  their  rear,  rid- 
dling their  ranks  with  shot  and  shell.  Suffering,  mad- 
dened, with  no  way  to  turn  and  fight,  for  the  enemy 
kept  themselves  well  hidden,  with  no  way  of  escape 
ahead  if  they  remained  on  the  road,  they  plunged  into 
the  swamp,  that  swept  up  black  and  dismal  to  the  very 
edge  of  the  highway.  The  Confederate  prisoners  with 
them,  warned  them  of  their  danger,  but  the  men  were 
not  to  be  stayed  when  a  deadl}^  rain  of  the  enemy's 
balls  was  thinning  their  ranks  every  minute.  The 
swamp  was  one  black  ooze  with  water  up  to  their  waists, 
a  tangle  of  grass,  reeds,  cypress  trees,  bushes.  Loaded 
down  with  their  heavy  clothing,  and  their  army  accoutre- 
ments, one  after  another  the  men  sank  from  sheer  ex- 
haustion. No  man  could  succor  his  brother.  It  was 
all  he  could  do  to  drag  himself  through  the  mire  that 
sucked  him  down  like  some  terrible,  silent  monster  of 
the  black,  slimy  depths.  But  Captain  Conwell  would 
not  desert  a  man.  He  could  not  see  his  comrades  left 
to  die  before  his  very  eyes,  those  men  who  came  right 
from  his  own  mountain  town,  his  own.  boy  friends,  the 
ones  who  had  enlisted  under  him,  marched  and  drilled 


82  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONV/ELL 

"witli  him.  Bather  would  he  perish  in  the  swamp  with 
them.  He  worked  like  a  Hercules,  encouraging,  help- 
ing, carrying  some  of  the  more  exhausted.  A  wet, 
straggling  remnant  reached  Newbeme.  Even  then, 
when  Captain  Conwell  found  that  two  of  his  own  com- 
pany were  missing,  he  plunged  back  into  the  swamp  to 
rescue  them.  Hours  passed,  and  just  as  a  relief  ex- 
pedition was  starting  to  search  for  him,  he  came  back, 
his  hat  gone,  his  unifonu  torn  into  rags,  but  with  one 
of  the  men  with  him  and  the  other  left  on  a  fallen  tree 
with  a  path  blazed  to  lead  the  rescuers  to  him.  N'o 
heart  could  withstand  such  devotion  as  that.  Young 
and  old,  it  touched  his  men  so  deeply,  they  could  not 
speak  of  it  unmoved.  They  would  gladly  have  died 
for  him  if  need  be,  as  one  did  later,  changing  by  his 
heroic  act  the  whole  current  of  K.ussell  ConwelFs  life. 

This  same  earnest  desire  to  save  that  made  him 
plunge  back  into  that  swamp,  regardless  of  self,  is  with 
him  still  to-day,  now  that  his  whole  soul  is  consumed 
with  a  longing  to  save  men  from  moral  death.  He  lets 
nothing  stand  in  his  way  of  reaching  out  a  succoring 
hand.  Then  it  was  his  comrades  that  he  loved  vnth 
such  unselfish  devotion.  ISTow,  every  man  is  his  brother 
and  his  heart  goes  out  with  the  same  earnest  desire  to 
help  those  who  need  help.  The  genuineness,  the  un- 
selfishness of  it  goes  straight  to  every  man's  heart.  It 
binds  men  to  him  as  in  the  old  days,  and  it  gives 
them  new  faith  in  themselves.  The  love  of  humanity 
in  his  heart  is,  and  always  has  been,  a  clear  spring, 
unpolluted  by  love  of  self,  by  ambition,  b^  any  worldly 
thing. 


'CHAPTEE  X. 

THE  SWORD  AND  THE  SCHOOL  BOOK 

Scouting  at  Bogue  Sound.  Capt.  Conwell  Wounded.  The  Second 
Enlistment.  Jealousy  and  Misunderstanding.  Building  of  the 
First  Free  School  for  Colored  Children.  Attack  on  Newport 
Barracks.     Heroic  Death  of  John  Ring. 

OKCE  more,  garrison  duty  laid  its  dull  hand  on  the 
troops,  varied  by  little  encounters  that  broke 
the  monotony  and  furnished  the  material  for 
many  campfire  stories,  but  otherwise  did  little  damage. 
The  men  eagerly  welcomed  these  scouting  expeditions, 
and  when  an  especially  dangerous  one  to  Bogue  Sound 
was  planned,  and  Company  E,  eager  to  be  selected, 
Captain  Conwell  personally  interceded  with  the  Colo- 
nel that  his  men  might  be  given  the 'task.  The  region 
into  which  they  were  sent  was  known  to  be  full  of 
rebels,  and  as  they  approached  the  danger  zone.  Captain 
Conwell  ordered  his  men  to  lie  down,  while  he  went 
forward  to  reconnoitre.  !N'oticing  a  Confederate  offi- 
cer behind  a  tree,  he  stole  to  the  tree,  and  reaching  as 
far  around  as  he  could,  began  firing  with  his  revolver. 
l^ot  being  experienced  in  the  shooting  of  men  and  be- 
lieving since  it  must  be  done,  "  'twere  well  it  were  done 
quickly,"  he  shot  all  his  loads  in  quick  succession.  His 
enemy,  more  wily,  waited  till  the  Captain's  ammuni- 
tion was  gone  and  then  slowly  and  with  steady  aim 

began  returning  the  fire.     But  Captain  Conwell's  com- 

83 


84  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

rades  watching  from  a  distance  saw  his  peril,  and  dis- 
obeying orders,  rose  as  one  man  and  came  to  his  rescue. 
The  Confederate  fled  but  not  before  he  had  left  a  ball 
in  Captain  Conwell's  shoulder  which,  of  little  conse- 
quence at  the  time,  later  came  near  causing  his  death. 

Thus  the  days  passed  away,  and  as  the  terai  of  enlist- 
ment drew  to  a  close,  General  Foster  sent  for  Captain 
Cbnwell  and  promised  to  recomimend  him  for  a  colonelcy 
if  he  would  enter  at  once  upon  recruiting  service  among 
his  men.  This  he  willingly  consented  to  do,  and  as 
may  be  imagined  his  men  nearly  all  wanted  to  re-enlist 
under  him.  Such  a  commission,  however,  for  one  so 
young  aroused  bitter  jealousy  among  officers  of  other 
companies,  and  Captain  Conwell  hearing  of  it,  decided 
not  to  accept  the  appointment.  He  wrote  the  Gov- 
ernor that  he  would  be  content  with  the  captain's  com- 
. mission  again  and  that  he  preferred  not  to  raise  conten- 
tion by  receiving  anything  higher.  The  company 
returned  home,  but  before  the  new  re-organization  was 
effected,  Captain  Conwell  was  attacked  with  a  serious 
fever.  By  the  time  he  recovered,  the  new  regiment  had 
been  organized  and  new  officers  put  over  it.  Of  course, 
his  men  were  dissatisfied.  With  the  understanding 
that  such  of  his  old  comrades  as  wished  could  join  it, 
he  went  to  work  immediately  recruiting  another  com- 
pany. But  nearly  all  his  old  men  wanted  to  come  into 
it,  the  new  men  recruited  would  not  give  him  up,  and 
the  anomalous  position  arose  of  two  companies  clamor- 
ing for  one  captain.  While  it  created  much  comment, 
it  did  not  lessen  the  jealousy  which  his  popularity  had 
aroused,  among  men  and  officers  not  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  him,  so  that  his  second  enlistment  began 
under  a  cloud  of  disappointment  for  his  men,  and  jeal- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  85 

oiisy  among  outsiders,  that  seemed  to  bring  misfortune 
in  its  train. 

His  new  men,  however,  never  failed  him.  His 
thoughtful  care  for  them,  his  kindness,  his  unselfish- 
ness won  their  loyalty  and  love  as  it  had  done  in  Com- 
pany F,  and  Company  D,  2nd  Massachusetts  Volun- 
teers were  to  a  man  as  devoted  and  as  attached  to  him 
as  ever  were  his  old  comrades  of  the  first  days  of  the 
war. 

In  this  company  went  as  Captain  Conwell's  personal 
orderly,  a  young  boy,  John  Ring,  of  Westfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, a  lad  of  sixteen  or  seventeen.  Entirely  too 
l^'oung  and  too  small  to  join  the  ranks  of  soldiers,  he 
had  pleaded  with  his  father  so  earnestly  to  be  permitted 
to  go  to  the  war  that  Mr.  Ring  had  finally  consented 
to  put  him  in  Captain  Conwell's  charge.  The  boy  was 
a  worshipper  at  the  shrine  of  the  young  Captain.  He 
had  sat  thrilled  and  fascinated  under  the  magic  of  the 
burning  words  which  had  swept  men  by  the  hundreds 
to  enlist.  It  was  Captain  Conwell's  speeches  that  had 
stirred  the  boy  and  moved  him  with  such  fiery  ardor 
to  go  to  war.  ISTo  greater  joy  could  be  given  him,  since 
he  could  not  fight,  than  to  be  in  his  Captain's  very  tent 
to  look  after  his  belongings,  to  minister  in  small  ways 
to  his  comfort.  A  hero  worshipper  the  lad  was,  and 
at  an  age  when  ideals  take  hold  of  a  pure,  high-minded 
boy  with  a  force  that  will  carry  him  to  any  height  of 
self-sacrifice,  to  any  depth  of  suffering.  He  had  been 
carefully  reared  in  a  Christian  home  and  read  the  Bible 
every  morning  and  every  evening  in  their  tent,  a  sight 
that  so  pricked  the  conscience  of  Captain  Conwell,  as  he 
remembered  his  mother  and  her  loving  instructions,  that 
he  forbade  it.     But  though  John  Ring  loved  Captain 


86  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

Conwell  -witli  a  love  wlncli  the  former  did  not  then 
nnderstand,  the  bov  loved  duty  and  right  better,  and 
bravely  disobeying  these  orders,  he  read  on. 

The  company  was  stationed  at  Fort  Macon,  Xorth 
Carolina,  for  awhile,  and  then  sent  to  Newport  Bar- 
racks. Here  it  was  that  Captain  Conwell  and  his  sol- 
diers cut  the  logs  and  built  the  first  free  schoolhouse 
erected  for  colored  children.  Colonel  Conwell  himself 
taught  it  at  first  and  then  he  engaged  a  woman  to  teach. 
It  is  still  standing. 

Months  passed  away  and  the  men  received  no  pay. 
Request  after  request  Captain  Conwell  sent  to  head- 
quarters at  Xewberne,  but  received  no  replV,  The  men 
became  discontented  and  unruly.  Some  had  families 
at  home  in  need.  All  of  these  tales  were  poured  into  the 
young  Captain's  ears.  Ready  ever  to  relieve  trouble, 
impatient  always  to  get  to  work  and  remedy  a  wrong, 
instead  of  t-alking  about  it.  Captain  Conwell  decided 
to  ride  to  Xewbeme,  find  out  what  was  the  matter  and 
have  the  men's  money  forwarded  at  once.  Leaving  an 
efficient  officer  in  command  and  securing  a  pass,  which 
he  never  stopped  to  consider  was  not  a  properly  made- 
out  permit  for  a  leave  of  absence  for  a  commanding  offi- 
cer, he  took  an  orderly  and  started.  It  was  a  twenty- 
mile  ride  to  Xewberne  and  meant  an  absence  of  some 
time.  But  he  anticipated  no  trouble,  for  the  rebels  had 
been  letting  the  Northern  troops  severely  alone  for 
nearly  a  year. 

He  had  covered  barely  two-thirds  of  the  distance, 
when  a  Union  man  passed,  who  shouted  as  he  hurried 
on,  "  Your  men  are  in  a  fight."  Conwell  and  his  or- 
derly turned,  put  their  horses  to  the  gallop  and  rode 
back  furiously.     It  was  too  late.     The  couutiw  between 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  87 

was  swarming  with  Confederates.  lie  ran  into  tlie 
enemies'  pickets  and  barely  escaped  capture  by  swim- 
ming a  deep  creek,  shot  spattering  all  around  them. 
He  made  desperate  efforts  to  ride  around  the  lines  but 
failed.  Then  he  tried  descending  the  river  by  boat,  but 
the  enemy  had  captured  the  entire  line  of  ix)sts.  Frus- 
trated at  all  points,  nothing  was  to  be  done  but  retrace 
his  steps  to  IsTewbeme,  where  the  worst  of  news  awaited 
him.  The  assault  upon  his  fort  had  been  sudden  and 
in  overwhelming  force.  His  men  had  been  shot  down 
or  bayonetted,  the  remnant  driven  to  the  woods.  The 
whole  ground  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

IsTor  was  tliis  all.  Back  at  that  little  fort  had  been 
enacted  one  of  the  saddest  tragedies  of  the  war.  When 
the  Union  soldiers  fled,  they  had  retreated  across  the 
long  railroad  bridge  that  spanned  the  IN'e^vport  river, 
and  to  prevent  the  enemy  following,  had  set  it  on  fire. 
Just  as  the  flames  began  to  eat  into  the  timbers,  John 
Ring,  the  boy  orderly,  thought  of  his  Captain's  sword, 
that  wonderful  gold-sheathed  sword  which  had  been 
presented  to  Captain  Conwcll  on  the  memorable  day 
in  Springfield  when  he  had  so  eloquently  called  upon  it 
to  fight  in  the  cause  of  Justice.  It  had  been  left  behind 
in  the  Captain's  tent,  the  Ai-my  Regulations  requiring 
that  he  wear  one  less  conspicuous.  Even  now  it  might 
be  in  the  hands  of  some  slave-owning  Confederate. 
Maddened  at  the  thought,  John  Ring  leaped  on  to  the 
burning  bridge,  plunged  back  through  the  fire,  through 
the  ranks  of  the  yelling,  excited  Confederates,  reached 
the  tent  unobserved  and  grasped  the  sword  of  his  idol- 
ized Captain.  Again  he  made  a  rush  for  the  flame^ 
wrapped  bridge.  But  this  time  the  keen  eyes  of  the 
enemy  discerned  him. 


88  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

'^  Ix)ok  at  the  Yank  with  the  sword.  "Wing  him ! 
Bring  hira  down."  And  bullets  sped  after  the  fearless 
boy.  But  he  fled  on  undeterred,  and  plunged  into  the 
mass  of  flame  and  smoke.  The  fire  had  gained  too  great 
headway  by  this  time  for  any  living  thing  to  pass 
through  it  unhurt.  He  saw  it  was  useless  to  attempt  to 
cross  as  before,  and  belting  the  sword  about  him,  he 
dropped  beneath  the  stringers  and  tried  to  make  his  way 
hand  over  hand.  All  about  him  fell  the  blazing  brands. 
The  biting  smoke  blinded  him.  The  very  flesh  was 
burning  from  his  arms.  The  enemies'  bullets  sung 
about  him.  But  still  he  struggled  on.  In  sheer  ad- 
miration of  his  courage,  the  Confederate  general  gave 
the  order  to  cease  flring,  and  the  two  armies  stood  silent 
and  watched  the  plucky  fight  of  this  brave  boy.  Inch 
by  inch,  he  gained  on  his  path  of  fire.  But  he  could 
see  no  longer.  In  torturing  blackness  he  groped  on, 
fearful  only  that  he  might  not  succeed  in  "saving  the 
precious  sword,  that  in  his  blindness  he  might  grasp 
a  blazing  timber  and  his  hand  be  burnt  from  him,  that 
death  in  a  tongue  of  flame  be  swept  do\vn  into  his  face, 
that  the  bridge  might  fall  and  the  sword  be  lost.  At 
last  he  heard  his  comrades  shouting.  They  guided  him 
with  their  cheers,  "  A  little  farther,"  "  Keep  straight 
on,"  "  You're  all  right  now."  And  then  he  dropped 
blazing  into  the  outstretched  arms  of  his  comrades,  while 
a  mighty  shout  went  up  from  both  sides  of  the  river, 
as  enemy  and  friend  paid  the  tribute  of  brave  men  ta  a 
brave  deed. 

With  swelling  hearts  and  tear-blinded  eyes,  they  ten- 
derly laid  the  insensible  hero  on  a  gun  carriage  and  took 
him  to  the  hospital.  Two  days  of  quivering  agony 
followed  and  then  he  met  and  bravelv  faced  his  last 


LIEUTENANT-COLOXEL  CONWELL 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  89 

enemy.  Openinaj  his  eyes,  he  said  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly, "  Give  the  Captain  his  sword."  Then  his  breath 
fluttered  and  the  little  armor-bearer  slept  the  sleep  of 
peace. 


CHAPTEE  XI 

A  SOLDIER  OF  THE  CROSS 

Under  Arrest  for  Absence  Without  Leave.  Order  of  Court  Re- 
versed by  President.  Certificate  from  State  Legislature  of  Mas- 
sachusetts for  Patriotic  Services.  Appointed  by  President 
Lincoln  Lieutenant-Colonel  on  General  McPherson's  Staff. 
Wounded  at  Kenesaw  Mountain.  Conversion.  Public  Profes- 
sion of  Faith. 

THE  tragic  death  of  John  Ring  was  the  final  crush- 
ing news  that  came  to  Captain  Conwell  at  Xew- 
berne.  Combined  with  the  nervous  strain  he 
had  been  under  in  trying  to  get  back  to  hi^  men,  the 
condemnation  from  his  superior  officers  for  his  absence, 
it  threw  him  into  a  brain  fever.  Long  days  and  nights 
he  rolled  and  tossed,  fighting  over  again  the  attack  on 
the  fort,  making  heroic  efforts  to  rescue  John  Ring  from 
his  fiery  death,  urging  his  horse  through  tangled  forests 
and  dark  rivers  that  seemed  never  to  have  another 
shore.  For  weeks  the  fever  racked  and  wasted  him, 
and  finally  when  feeble  and  weak,  he  was  once  more 
able  to  walk,  he  found  himself  under  arrest  for  absence 
without  leave  during  a  time  of  danger. 

It  had  been  reported  to  General  Palmer  that  the  de- 
feat of  the  Federal  troops  might  have  been  avoided  had 
the  officers  been  on  duty.  An  investigation  was  or- 
dered and  Captain  Conwell  was  asked  for  his  permit  to 
be  absent.     He  had  simply  his  pass  through  the  lines, 

90 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  91 

a  vastly  different  thing  lie  found  from  an  autliorized 
permit  of  absence.  The  investigation  dragged  its  slow 
course  along,  as  all  such  things,  encumbered  by  red 
tape,  do.  Disgusted  and  humiliated  by  being  kept  a 
prisoner  for  months  when  the  country  needed  every 
arm  in  its  defense,  by  having  such  a  mountain  made  of 
the  veriest  molehill  built  of  a  kind  act  and  boyish  inex- 
perience, he  refused  to  put  in  a  defense  at  the  investiga- 
tion and  let  it  go  as  it  would.  Setting  the  Court  of 
Inquiry  more  against  him,  a  former  Commander,  Gen- 
eral Foster,  espoused  his  cause  too  hotly  and  wrote  to 
General  McPherson  for  an  appointment  for  a  "  boy  who 
is  as  brave  as  an  old  man."  The  Court  of  Inquiry, 
made  up  of  local  officers,  most  of  them  jealous  of  his 
popularity,  resented  this  outside  interference  and  the 
verdict  was  against  him.  But  others  higher  in  author- 
ity took  up  the  matter  and  Captain  Conwell  was  ordered 
to  Washington.  The  President  reversed  the  order  of 
the  Court.  He  was  appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel,  de- 
tailed for  service  on  General  McPherson's  staff  and 
ordered  West.  General  Butler,  under  whose  command 
Captain  Conwell  served,  afterward  made  a  generous  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  injustice  of  the  findings  and  ex- 
pressed in  warm  words  his  admiration  of  Captain  Con- 
well, and  the  State  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  gave 
him  a  certificate  for  faithful  and  patriotic  services  in 
that  campaign. 

IsTevertheless,  it  was  an  experience  that  sorely  em- 
bittered his  soul.  Intentionally  he  had  done  nothing 
wrong,  yet  he  had  been  humiliated  and  made  to  eat  the 
bitter  fruits  of  the  envy  and  jealousy  of  others.  It  sad- 
dened but  did  not  defeat  him.  His  heart  was  too  big, 
his  nature  too  generous.     He  could  forgive  them  freely, 


92  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

could  do  tliem  a  kindness  the  very  first  opportunity,  but 
that  did  not  take  away  the  pain  at  his  heart  One  may 
forgive  a  person  who  bums  him,  even  if  intentionally, 
but  that  does  not  stop  the  burn  from  smarting. 

Saddened,  and  with  the  futility  of  ambition  keenly 
brought  home  to  him,  he  joined  General  McPherson, 
and  in  the  battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain  he  received  a 
serious  wound.  He  had  stationed  a  lookout  to 
watch  the  Confederate  fire  while  he  directed  the  work 
of  two  batteries.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  lookout  to 
keep  Colonel  C'onwell  and  his  gimners  posted  as  to 
whether  the  enemy  fired  shot  or  shell,  easily  to  be  told 
by  watching  the  little  trail  of  smoke  that  followed  the 
discharge.  If  a  shot  were  sent,  they  paid  no  attention 
to  it  for  it  did  little  damage,  but  if  it  were  a  shell  it  was 
deemed  necessary  to  seek  protection. 

Colonel  Conwell  was  leaning  on  the  wheel  of  one  of 
the  cannon  when  there  was  a  discharge  from  the  guns 
of  the  enemy.  The  lookout  yelled,  "  Shot."  But  it 
was  a  fatal  shell  that  came  careening  and  screaming 
toward  them,  and  before  Conwell  or  his  men  could  leap 
into  the  bomb-proof  embankment,  it  struck  the  hub  of 
the  very  wheel  against  which  he  leaned,  and  burst. 

When  he  came  to  himself,  the  stars  were  shining,  the 
field  was  silent  save  for  the  feeble  moans  of  the  wound- 
ed, the  voices  and  footsteps  of  parties  searching  for  the 
injured.  He  was  in  a  quivering  agony  of  sharp,  burn- 
ing pain,  but  he  could  neither  move  nor  speak.  At  last, 
he  heard  the  searchers  coming.  I^earer,  nearer  drew 
the  voices,  then  for  a  moment  they  paused  at  his  side. 
He  heard  a  man  with  a  lantern  say,  "  Poor  fellow ! 
We  can  do  nothing  for  him."  Then  they  passed  on, 
leaving  him  for  dead,  among  the  dead.    . 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  93 

All  that  June  night  he  lay  there,  looking  up  at  the 
stars  that  studded  the  infinity  of  space.  About  him 
were  dark,  silent  forms,  rigid  in  the  sleep  of  death. 
Those  were  solemn  hours,  hours  when  he  looked  death 
in  the  face,  and  then  backward  over  the  years  he  had 
lived.  Useless  years  they  seemed  to  him  now,  years 
filled  with  petty  ambitions  that  had  to  do  solely  with 
self.  All  the  spiritual  ideals  of  life,  the  things  that 
give  lasting  joy  and  happiness  because  they  are  of  the 
spirit  and  not  of  the  flesh,  he  had  scoffingly  cast  aside 
and  rejected.  He  had  narrowed  life  down  to  self  and 
the  things  of  the  world.  He  had  no  such  faith  as  made 
his  mother's  hard-working  life  happy  and  serene  be- 
cause it  transformed  its  sordid  care  into  glorious  ser- 
vice of  her  Heavenly  King.  He  had  no  such  faith  as 
carried  John  Ring  triumphant  and  undismayed  through 
the  gates  of  fiery  death  in  performance  of  a  loving 
service.  Suddenly  a  longing  swept  over  him  for  this 
priceless  faith,  for  a  personal,  sure  belief  in  the  love 
of  a  Savior.  One  by  one  the  teachings  of  his  mother 
came  back  to  him,  those  beautiful  immortal  truths  she 
had  read  him  from  that  Book  which  is  never  too  old 
to  touch  the  hearts  of  men  with  healing.  Looking  up 
at  the  worlds  swinging  through  space  to  unknown  laws, 
with  the  immensities  of  life,  death  and  infinity  all  about 
him,  his  disbelief,  his  atheism  dropped  away.  Into 
his  heart  came  the  premonitions  of  the  peace  of  God, 
which  passeth  understanding.  Life  broadened,  it  took 
on  new  meaning  and  duty,  for  a  life  into  which  the 
spirit  of  God  has  come  can  never  again  narrow  down 
to  the  boundaries  of  self.  Lie  determined  henceforth 
to  live  more  for  others,  less  for  himself;  to  make  the 
world  better,  somebody  happier  whenever  he  could ;  to 


94  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONV/ELL 

make  his  life,  eacli  day  of  it,  worthy  of  that  great  sacri- 
fice of  John  Eing;. 

He  being  an  officer,  they  came  back  for  his  body,  and 
found  a  living  man  instead  of  the  dead.  He  was  taken 
to  the  field  hospital.  One  arm  was  broken  in  two 
places,  his  shoulder  badly  shattered,  and  because  there 
was  no  hope  of  his  living,  they  did  not  at  once  ampu- 
tate his  arm,  which  would  have  been  done  had  he  been 
less  seriously  injured. 

Long  days  he  lajy  in  the  hospital  with  life  going  out 
all  about  him,  the  moan  of  the  suffering  in  his  ears, 
thinking,  thinking,  of  the  mystery  of  life  and  death,  as 
the  shadows  flitted  and  swayed  through  the  dimly  light- 
ed wards  at  night,  the  sunshine  poured  down  during 
the  day.  His  love  of  humanity  burned  purer.  His 
desire  to  help  it  grew  stronger.  Long  were  the  talks 
he  had  with  the  chaplain,  a  Baptist  preacher,  and  when 
he  recovered  and  left  the  hospital,  his  mind  Was  fully 
made  up.  Like  his  father,  his  actions  never  lagged  be- 
hind his  speech,  and  he  made  at  once  an  open  profes- 
sion of  the  faith  on  which  he  now  leaned  with  such 
happy  confidence. 

The  fearless,  unselfish  love  of  humanity,  the  desire 
to  help  the  oppressed  that  burned  in  the  bosom  of  John 
Brown  had  sent  the  impetuous  boy  into  the  war. 

The  fearless,  unselfish  act  of  John  Ring  sent  Colonel 
Conwell  out  of  the  war  a  God-fearing  man,  determined 
to  spend  his  life  for  the  good  of  humanity. 

Providence  uses  strange  instruments.  Thousands  in 
this  country  to-day  have  been  inspired,  helped,  made 
different  men  and  women  through  knowing  Russell  Con- 
well.  What  may  not  some  of  them  do  to  benefit  their 
country  and  their  generation !     Yet  back  of  him  stand 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  95 

this  old  gray-haired  man  and  a  young,   fearless  boy, 
whose  influence  turned  the  cur 
and  bless  countless  thousands. 


whose  influence  turned  the  current  of  his  life  to  brighten 


CHAPTER  XII, 

WESTWARD 

Resignation  from  Army.  Admission  to  Bar.  Marriage.  Re- 
moval to  Minnesota.  Founding  of  Minneapolis  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and 
of  the  Present  "  Minneapolis  Tribune."  Burning  of  Home. 
Breaking  Out  of  Wound.  Appointed  Emigration  Agent  to 
Germany  by  Governor  of  Minnesota.  Joins  Surveying  Party  to 
Palestine.  Near  to  Death  in  Paris  Hospital.  Journey  to  New 
York  for  Operation  in  Bellevue  Hospital.     Return  to  Boston. 

W  HEIST  Colonel  Conwell  was  able  to  leave  the 
hospital,  he  was  still  unable  to  assume 
active  duty  in  the  field,  and  he  was  sent  to 
!Kashville  for  further  rest  and  treatment.  Here  he  re- 
ported to  General  Thomas  and  was  instructed  to  pro- 
ceed to  Washington  with  a  despatch  for  General  Logan. 
Colonel  Conwell  started,  but  the  rough  traveling  of 
those  days  opened  his  wounds  afresh  and  he  completely 
broke  down  at  Harper's  Ferry.  Too  weak  longer  to 
resist,  he  yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  his  friends,  sent 
in  his  resignation  and  returned  home  for  rest  and  nurs- 
ing.    Before  he  fully  recovered,  peace  was  declared. 

Free  to  resume  his  studies,  he  entered  the  law  office 
of  Judge  W.  S.  Shurtleff,  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts, 
his  former  Colonel,  read  law  there  for  a  short  time, 
then  entered  the  Albany  University,  where  he  grad- 
uated. 

Shortlv  after  passing  his  examination  at  tlie  bar  and 
.9G 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  97 

receiving  liis  degree,  he  was  married  at  Chicopee  Falls, 
March  8,  1865,  to  Miss  Jennie  P.  Hayden,  one  of  his 
pupils  in  the  district  school  at  West  Granville,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  later  one  of  his  most  proficient  music 
scholars.  Her  brothers  were  in  his  company,  and  when 
Company  F  was  in  camp  at  Springfield  after  the  first 
enlistment,  she  was  studying  at  Wilbraham  and  there 
often  saw  her  soldier  lover.  Anxious  days  and  years 
they  were  for  her  that  followed,  as  they  were  for  every 
other  woman  with  father,  husband,  brother  or  sweet- 
heart in  the  terrible  conflict  that  raged  so  long.  But 
she  endured  them  with  that  silent  bravery  that  is  ever 
the  woman's  part,  that  strong,  steady  courage  that  can 
sit  at  home  passive,  patient,  never  knowing  but  that 
life-long  sorrow  and  heartadie  are  already  at  the 
threshold. 

Immediately  after  their  marriage,  they  went  "West 
and  finally  settled  in  Minneapolis.  Colonel  Conwell 
opened  a  law  office,  and  while  waiting  for  clients  acted 
as  agent  for  a  real  estate  firm  in  the  sale  of  land  war- 
rants. He  also  began  to  negotiate  'for  the  sale  of  town 
lots.  This  not  being  enough  for  a  man  who  utilized 
every  minute,  he  became  local  coiTespondent  for  the 
"  St.  Paul  Press."  ISTor  did  he  stop  here,  though  most 
men  would  have  thought  their  hands  by  this  time  about 
full.  He  took  an  active  part  in  local  politics  and  can- 
vassed the  settlement  and  towns  for  the  Pepublican  and 
temperance  tickets.  He  also  was  actively  interested  in 
the  schools,  and  not  only  advocated  public  schools  and 
plenty  of  them,  but  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  the  city 
and  district  schools,  talking  to  the  children  in  that  in- 
teresting, entertaining  way  that  always  clothes  some 
helpful  lesson  in  a  form  long  to  be  remembered. 


98  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

True  to  the  faith  he  had  found  in  the  little  Southern 
hospital,  he  joined  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Saint 
Paul.  But  mere  joining  was  not  sufficient.  He  must 
work  for  the  cause,  and  he  opened  a  business  men's 
noon  prayer-meeting  in  his  law  office  at  Minneapolis, 
rather  a  novel  undertaking  in  those  days  and  in  the  then 
far  West.  For  three  months,  only  three  men  attended. 
But  nothing  daunted,  he  persevered.  That  trait  in  his 
character  always  shone  out  the  more  brightly,  the  darker 
the  outlook.  Those  three  men  were  helped,  and  that 
was  sufficient  reason  that  the  prayer-meeting  be  con- 
tinued. Eventually  it  prospered  and  resulted  finally 
in  a  permanent  organization  from  which  grew  the  Min- 
neapolis Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Poor  though  he  was,  and  he  started  in  the  West  with 
nothing,  he  made  friends  everywhere.  His  speeches 
Boon  made  him  widely  known.  His  sincerity,  his  un- 
selfish desire  to  help  others,  his  earnestness  to  "aid  in  all 
good  works  brought  him,  as  always,  a  host  of  loyal, 
devoted  followers.  A  skating  club  of  some  hundred 
members  made  him  their  President,  and  his  first  law 
case  in  the  West  came  to  him  through  this  position. 

A  skating  carnival  was  to  be  given,  and  th.e  club  had 
engaged  an  Irishman  to  clear  a  certain  part  of  the  frozen 
Mississippi  of  snow  for  the  skating.  This  he  failed  to 
do  at  the  time  specified  and  the  club  had  it  cleaned  by 
some  one  else.  Claiming  that  he  would  have  done  it, 
had  they  waited,  the  Irishman  sued  the  club.  Colonel 
Conwell,  of  course,  appeared  for  the  defense.  The 
whole  hundred  members  marched  to  the  court,  house,  the 
scene  being  town  talk  for  some  days.  JSfeedless  to  say 
he  won  his  suit. 

His  love  for  newspaper  work  led  him  to  start  the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  99 

"  Minneapolis  Chronicle  "  and  the  "  Star  of  the  !N'orth," 
which  were  afterward  merged  into  "  The  Minneapolis 
Tribune,"  for  which  his  clever  young  wife  conducted 
a  woman's  column,  in  a  decidedly  brilliant,  original 
manner.  Mrs.  Conwell  wrote  from  her  heart  as  one 
woman  to  other  women,  and  her  articles  soon  attracted 
notice  and  comment  for  their  entertaining  style  and 
their  inspiring,  helpful  ideas. 

At  this  time  they  were  living  in  two  rooms  back  of 
his  oflSce,  for  they  were  making  financial  headway  as 
yet  but  slowly.  But  times  brightened  and  Colonel  Con- 
well  was  soon  able  to  purchase  a  handsome  home  and 
furnish  it  comfortably,  taking  particular  pride  in  the 
gathering  of  a  large  law  library. 

It  seemed  now  as  if  life  were  to  move  forward  pros- 
perously. But  greater  work  was  needed  from  Russell 
Conwell  than  the  comfortable  practice  of  law.  One 
evening  while  the  family  were  from  home,  fire  broke 
out  and  the  house  and  all  they  owned  was  destroyed. 
Running  to  the  fire  from  a  G.  A.  R.  meeting,  a  mile 
and  a  half  away,  Colonel  Conwell  was  attacked  with  a 
hemorrhage  of  the  lungs.  It  came  from  his  old  army 
wounds  and  the  doctor  ordered  him  immediately  from 
that  climate,  and  told  him  he  must  take  a  complete 
rest.  Here  was  disaster  indeed.  Every  cent  they  had 
saved  was  gone.  And  with  it  the  streng-th  to  begin 
again  the  battle  for  a  living.  It  was  a  hard,  bitter  blow 
for  a  young,  ambitious  man,  right  at  the  start  of  his 
career;  a  stroke  of  fate  to  make  any  man  bitter  and 
cynical.  But  his  was  not  a  nature  to  pennit  misfor- 
tune to  naiTow  him  or  make  him  repine.  He  rose  above 
it.  It  did  not  lesson  his  ambitions.  It  broadened, 
humanized  them.     It  made  him  enter  with  still  truer 


100  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

s^onpathy  into  other  people's  misfortune.  And  bis 
trust  in  God  was  so  strong,  his  faith  so  unshaken,  he 
knew  that  in  all  these  bitter  experiences  of  life's  school 
was  a  lesson.  He  learned  it  and  used  it  to  get  a  broader 
outlook. 

His  friends  rallied  to  his  aid.  Prominent  as  an  editor, 
lawyer,  leader  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  it  was  not  difficult 
to  get  him  an  appointment  from  the  Governor,  already 
a  warai  friend.  He  secured  the  position  of  emigra- 
tion agent  to  Europe,  and  he  turned  his  face  Eastward. 
Mrs.  Conwell  was  left  in  Minneapolis,  and  he  sailed 
abroad  in  the  hope  that  the  sea  trip  and  change  of  cli- 
mate would  heal  the  weakened  tissue  of  his  lung  and 
fully  restore  him  to  health.  But  it  was  a  vain  hope. 
His  strength  would  not  permit  him  to  fulfill  the  duty 
expected  of  him  as  emigration  agent  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  resign.  For  several  months  he  wandered  about 
Europe  trying  one  place,  then  another  in  the  vain  search 
for  health.  He  joined  a  surveying  party  and  went  to 
Palestine,  for  even  in  those  days  that  inner  voice  could 
not  b©  altogether  stilled  that  was  calling  him  to  follow 
in  the  footsteps  of  the  Savior  and  preach  and  teach  and 
heal  the  sick.  The  land  where  the  Savior  ministered 
had  a  strong  fascination  for  him,  and  he  gladly  seized 
the  opportunity  to  become  a  member  of  this  surveying 
party  and  walk  over  the  groiuid  where  the  Savior  had 
gone  up  and  down  doing  good. 

But  the  trip  was  of  no  benefit  to  his  health.  Instead 
of  gaining  he  failed.  He  grew  weaker  and  weaker. 
The  hemorrhages  became  more  and  more  frequent. 
Finally  he  came  to  Paris  and  lying,  a  stranger  and  poor, 
in  ISTecker  Hospital  was  told  he  could  live  but  a  few 
davs.     Face  to  face  again  with  that  gi-im,  bitter  enemy 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  101 

of  the  battlefield,  what  thoughts  came  crowding  thick 
and  fast  —  thoughts  of  his  young  wife  in  far-away 
America,  of  father  and  mother,  memories  of  the  beau- 
tiful woods,  the  singing  streams  of  the  mountain  home, 
as  the  noise  and  clamor  of  Paris  streets  drifted  into 
the  long  hospital  ward. 

Then  came  a  famous  Berlin  doctor  to  the  dying 
American.  He  studied  the  case  attentively,  for  it  was 
strange  enough  to  arouse  and  enlist  all  a  doctor's  keen 
scientific  interest.  When  analyzed,  copper  had  been 
found  in  the  hemorrhage,  with  no  apparent  reason  for 
it,  and  the  Paris  doctors  were  puzzling  over  the  cause. 
"  Were  you  in  the  war  ?  "  asked  the  great  man.  "  Were 
you  shot  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Shot  in  the  shoulder  ?  " 

Then  came  back  to  Colonel  Conwell,  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  duel  with  the  Confederate  around  a  tree 
in  the  !N"orth  Carolina  woods  and  the  shot  that  had 
lodged  in  his  shoulder  near  his  neck  and  was  never  re- 
moved. 

"  That  is  the  trouble,"  said  the  physician.  "  The 
bullet  has  worked  down  into  the  lung  and  only  the  most 
skillful  operation  can  save  you,  and  only  one  man  can 
do  it " —  and  that  man  was  a  surgeon  in  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital, 'New  York. 

Carefully  was  the  sinking  man  taken  on  board  a 
steamer.  Only  the  most  rugged  constitution  could  have 
stood  that  trip  in  the  already  weakened  condition  of  his 
system.  But  those  early  childhood  days  in  the  Berk- 
shire Hills  had  put  iron  into  his  blood,  the  tonic  of 
sunshine  and  fresh  air  into  his  very  bone  and  muscle. 
Safely  he  made  the  journey,  though  no  one  knew  all 


102  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

he  suffered  in  those  terrible  days  of  weakness  and  pain 
on  the  lone,  friendless  trip  across  the  Atlantic.  Safely 
he  went  through  the  operation.  The  bullet  was  re- 
moved, and  with  health  mending,  he  made  his  way  to 
Boston  where  his  loving  young  wife  awaited  him. 

But  out  of  these  experiences,  suffering,  alone,  friend- 
less, poor,  in  a  strange  city,  grew  after  all  the  Samari- 
tan Hospital  of  Philadelphia  that  opens  wide  its  doors, 
first  and  always,  to  the  suffering  sick  poor. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

WRITING  HIS  WAY  AROUND  THE  WORLD 

Days  of  Poverty  in  Boston.  Sent  to  Southern  Battlefields. 
Around  the  World  for  New  York  and  Boston  Papers.  In  a 
Gambling  Den  In  Hong  Kong,  China.     Cholera  and  Shipwreck. 

ABJECT  poverty  awaited  him  on  his  return  to  BoS'- 
ton.  The  fire  in  St.  Paul  had  left  them  but 
little  property,  M'hile  their  enforced  hun'ied  de- 
parture compelled  that  little  to  be  sold  at  a  loss.  This 
money  was  now  entirely  gone,  and  once  more  he  faced 
the  world  in  absolute  poverty.  He  rented  a  single  room 
in  the  East  district  of  Boston  and  furnished  it  with  the 
barest  necessities.  Colonel  Conwell  secured  a  position 
on  "  The  Evening  Traveller  "  at  five  dollars  a  w^eek, 
and  Mrs.  Conwell  cheerily  took  in,  sewing.  Thus  they 
made  their  first  brave  stand  against  the  gaunt  wolf  at 
the  door.  Here  their  first  child  was  born,  a  daughter, 
Nima,  now  Mrs.  E.  G.  Tuttle,  of  Philadelphia.  These 
were  dark  days  for  the  little  household.  Night  after 
night  the  father  came  home  to  see  the  one  he  loved  best 
in  all  the  world,  suffering  for  the  barest  necessities  of 
life,  yet  cheerful,  buoyant,  never  complaining.  So  sen- 
sitive to  the  sufferings  of  others  that  he  must  do  all  in 
his  power  to  relieve  even  his  comrades  in  the  war  when 
injured  or  ill,  what  mental  anguish  must  he  have  en- 
dured when  his  dearfy  loved  wife  was  in  want  and  he 
so  powerless  to  relieve  it.     She  read  his  heart  with  the 

103 


104  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

sure  sympathy  of  love,  knew  his  bitter  anguish  of  spirit, 
and  suffered  the  more  because  he  suffered.  But  bravely 
she  cheered  him,  encouraged  him,  and  spent  all  her  own 
spare  minutes  doing  what  she  could  to  add  to  the  family 
income. 

Thus  they  pluckily  Avorked,  never  repining  nor  com- 
plaining at  fate,  though  knowing  in  its  bitterest  sense 
what  it  is  to  be  desperately  poor,  to  suffer  for  adequate 
food  and  clothing.  Colonel  Conwell  learned  in  that 
hard  experience  what  it  is  to  want  for  a  crust  of  bread. 
ISTo  man  can  come  to  Dr.  Conwell  to  this  day  with  a 
tale  of  poverty,  suffering,  sickness,  but  what  the  minis- 
ter's eyes  turn  backward  to  that  one  little  room  with 
its  pitiful  makeshifts  of  furniture,  its  brave,  pale  wife, 
the  wee  girl  baby ;  and  his  hand  goes  out  to  help  with 
an  earnest  and  heartfelt  sympathy  surprising  to  the  re- 
cipient. 

But  the  tide  turned  ere  long.  Colonel  Conwell's 
work  on  the  paper  soon  began  to  tell.  His  salary  was 
raised  and  raised,  until  comfort  once  more  with  smil- 
ing face  took  up  her  abode  with  them.  They  moved 
into  a  pretty  home  in  Somerville.  Colonel  Conwell  re- 
sumed his  law  practice  and  began,  as  in  the  West, 
to  deal  in  real  estate.     He  also  continued  his  lecturing. 

Busy  days  these  were,  but  his  life  had  already  taught 
him  much  of  the  art  of  filling  each  minute  to  an  exact 
nicety  in  order  to  get  the  most  out  of  it.  His  paper 
sent  him  as  a  special  correspondent  to  write  up  the  bat- 
tlefields of  the  South,  and  his  letters  were  so  graphic 
and  entertaining  as  to  become  a  widely  known  and  much 
discussed  feature  of  the  paper.  Soldiers  everywhere 
read  them  with  eager  delight  and  through  them  re- 
visited the  scenes  of  the  terrible  conflict  in  which  each 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  105 

had  played  some  part.  While  on  this  assignment,  he 
invaded  a  gambling  den  in  New  Orleans,  and  interfer- 
ing to  save  a  colored  man  from  the  drunken  frenzy  of 
a  bully,  came  near  being  killed  himself.  Coming  to 
the  aid  of  a  porter  on  a  Mississippi  steamboat,  he  again 
narrowly  escaped  being  shot,  striking  a  revolver  from 
the  hand  of  a  ruffian  just  as  his  finger  dropped  on  the 
trigger.  He  mixed  with  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
men  and  saw  life  in  its  roughest,  most  primal  aspect. 
But  all  these  experiences  helped  him  to  that  apprecia- 
tion of  human  nature  that  has  been  of  such  value  and 
help  to  him  since. 

These  letters  aroused  such  widespread  and  favorable 
comment  that  the  "  ISTew  York  Tribune  "  and  "  Boston 
Traveller  "  arranged  to  send  him  on  a  tour  of  the  world. 
'When  the  offer  came  to  him,  his  mind  leaped  the  years 
to  that  poorly  furnished  room  in  the  little  farmhouse, 
where  he  had  leaned  on  his  mother's  knee  and  listened 
with  rapt  attention  while  she  read  him  the  letters  of 
foreign  correspondents  in  that  very  "  l^ew  York  Trib- 
une." The  letter  he  wrote  his  mother  telling  her  of 
the  appointment  was  full  of  loving  gratitude  for  the 
careful  way  she  had  trained  his  tastes  in  those  days 
when  he  was  too  young  and  inexperienced  to  choose  for 
himself. 

It  was  a  wrench  for  the  young  wife  to  let  him  go  so 
far  away,  but  she  bravely,  cheerfully  made  the  sacri- 
fice. She  was  proud  of  his  work  and  his  abilitly,  and 
she  loved  him  too  truly  to  stand  in  the  way  of  his 
progress. 

This  journey  took  him  to  Scotland,  England,  Sweden, 
Denmark,  France,  Italy,  Germany,  Russia,  Palestine, 
Arabia,  Egj'pt  and  Northern  Africa.     He  interviewed 


106  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

Emperor  William  I,  Bismarck,  Victor  Emanuel,  the 
then  Prince  of  Wales,  now  Edward  VII  of  England. 
He  frequently  met  Henry  M.  Stanley,  then  correspond- 
ent for  the  London  papers,  who  wrote  from  Paris  of 
Colonel  Conwell,  "  Send  that  double-sighted  Yankee 
and  he  will  see  at  a  glance  all  there  is  and  all  there 
ever  was." 

He  also  made  the  acquaintance  of  Garibaldi,  whom 
he  visited  in  his  island  home  and  with  whom  he  kept 
up  a  correspondence  after  he  returned.  Garibaldi  it 
was  who  called  Colonel  Conwell's  attention  to  the  heroic 
deeds  of  that  admirer  of  America,  the  great  and  pa- 
triotic Venetian,  Daniel  Manin.  In  the  busy  years 
that  followed  on  this  trip  Colonel  Conwell  spent  a  long 
time  gathering  materials  for  a  biography  of  Daniel 
Manin,  and  just  before  it  was  ready  for  the  press  the 
manuscript  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  destruction  of 
his  home  at  Newton  Centre,  Massachusetts^  in  1880, 
One  of  his  most  popular  lectures,  "  The  Heroism  of  a 
Private  Life,"  took  its  inception  from  the  life  of  this 
Venetian  statesman. 

He  also  gave  a  series  of  lectures  at  Cambridge,  En- 
gland, on  Italian  history  that  attracted  much  favorable 
comment. 

Mr.  Samuel  T.  Harris,  of  New  York,  correspondent 
of  the  "  New  York  Times  "  in  1870,  in  a  private  letter, 
says,  "  Conwell  is  the  funniest  chap  I  ever  fell  in  with. 
He  sees  a  thousand  things  I  never  thought  of  looking 
after.  When  his  letters  come  back  in  print  I  find  lots 
in  them  that  seems  new  to  me,  although  I  saw  it  all 
at  the  time.  But  you  don't  see  the  fun  in  his  letters 
to  the  papers.  The  way  he  adapts  himself  to  all  cir-. 
cumstances  comes   from  long  travel;   but  it  is  droll. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  107 

He  makes  a  salaam  to  the  defunct  kings,  a  neat  bow  to 
the  Siidras,  and  a  friendly  wink  at  the  Howadji,  in 
a  way  that  puts  him  cheek-by- jowl  with  them  in  a  jiffy. 
He  beats  me  all  out  in  his  positive  sympathy  with  these 
miserable  heathen.  He  has  read  so  much  that  he  knows 
about  everything.  The  way  the  officials,  English,  too, 
treat  him  would  make  you  think  he  was  the  son  of  a 
lord.  He  has  a  dignified  condescension  in  his  manner 
that  I  can't  imitate." 

Part  of  the  time  Bayard  Taylor  was  his  traveling 
companion,  and  there  grew  up  between  these  two  kin- 
dred spirits  an  intimate  friendship  that  lasted  until 
Taylor's  death. 

All  through  the  trip  he  carried  books  with  him,  and 
every  minute  not  occupied  in  gathering  material  for 
his  letters  was  passed  in  reading  the  history  of  the 
scenes  and  the  people  he  was  among,  in  mastering  their 
language.  Such  close  application  added  an  interesting 
background  of  historical  information  to  his  letters,  a 
breadth  and  culture,  that  made  them  decidedly  more 
valuable  and  entertaining  than  if  confined  strictly  to 
what  he  saw  and  heard.  It  was  on  this  journey  that 
he  heard  the  legend  from  which  grew  his  famous  lecture, 
"  Acres  of  Diamonds,"  which  has  been  given  already 
three  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty  times.  It 
gave  him  an  almost  inexhaustible  fund  of  material  on 
which  he  has  drawn  for  his  lectures  and  books  since. 

During  his  absence  his  second  child,  a  son,  Leon, 
was  born.  He  returned  home  for  the  briefest  time,  and 
then  completed  the  tour  by  way  of  the  West  and  the 
Pacific.  He  lectured  through  the  Western  States  and 
Territories,  for  already  his  fame  as  a  lecturer  was 
spreading.     He  visited  the  Sandwich  Islands,  Japan, 


108  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

China,  Sumatra,  Siam,  Burmah,  the  Himalaya  Moun- 
tains, India,  returning  home  by  way  of  Europe.  His 
Hong  Kong  letter  to  "  The  Tribune,"  exposing  the  in- 
iquities of  the  labor-contract  system  in  Chinese  emi- 
gration, created  quite  a  stir  in  political  and  diplomatic 
circles.  It  was  while  on  this  trip  he  gathered  the  ma- 
terial for  his  first  book,  "  Why  and  How  the  Chinese 
Emigrate."  It  was  reviewed  as  the  best  book  in  the 
market  of  its  kind.  The  "  New  York  Herald  "  in  writ- 
ing of  it  said :  "  There  has  been  little  given  to  the 
public  which  throws  more  timely  and  intelligent  light 
upon  the  question  of  coolie  emigration  than  the  book 
written  by  Col.  Russell  H.  Conwell,  of  Boston." 

These  travels  were  replete  with  thrilling  adventures 
and  strange  coincidents.  When  he  left  Somerville  after 
his  brief  visit,  for  his  trip  through  the  Western  States, 
China  and  Japan,  a  broken-hearted  mother  in  Charles- 
town,  Mass.,  asked  him  to  find  her  wandering  boy,  whom 
she  believed  to  be  "  somewhere  in  China."  A  big  re- 
quest, but  Colonel  Conwell,  busy  as  he  was,  did  not 
forget  it.  Searching  for  him  in  such  places  as  he  be- 
lieved the  boy  would  most  likely  frequent.  Colonel 
Conwell  accidentally  entered,  one  night  in  Hong  Kong, 
a  den  of  gamblers.     Writing  of  the  event,  he  says: 

"  At  one  table  sat  an  American,  about  twenty-five 
years  old,  playing  with  an  old  man.  They  had  been 
betting  and  drinking.  While  the  gray-haired  man  was 
shuffling  the  cards  for  a  '  new  deal '  the  young  man, 
in  a  swaggering,  careless  way,  sang,  to  a  very  pathetic 
tune,  a  verse  of  Phoebe  Carey's  beautiful  hymn, 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  109 

*  One   sweetly   solemn   thought 

Comes  to  me  o'er  and  o'er: 
I'm  nearer  home  to-day 

Than  e'er  I've  been  before.' 

Hearing  the  singing  several  gamblers  looked  up  in 
surprise.  The  old  man  who  was  dealing  the  cards 
grew  melancholy,  stopped  for  a  moment,  gazed 
steadfastly  at  his  partner  in  the  game,  and  dashed  the 
pack  upon  the  floor  under  the  table.  Then  said  he, 
'  Where  did  you  learn  that  tune  ? '  The  young  man 
pretended  that  he  did  not  know  he  had  been  singing. 
'  Well,  no  matter,'  said  the  old  man,  I've  played  my 
last  game,  and  that's  the  end  of  it.  The  cards  may  lie 
there  till  doomsday,  and  I  will  never  pick  them  up.' 
The  old  man  having  won  money  from  the  other  —  about 
one  hundred  dollars  —  took  it  out  of  his  pocket,  and 
handing  it  to  him  said :  '  Here,  Harry,  is  your  money ; 
take  it  and  do  good  with  it ;  I  shall  with  mine.'  As  the 
traveler  followed  them  downstairs,  he  saw  them  con- 
versing by  the  doorway,  and  overheard  enough  to  know 
that  the  older  man  was  saying  soiuething  about  the 
song  which  the  young  man  had  sung.  It  had,  perhaps, 
been  learned  at  a  mother's  knee,  or  in  a  Sunday-school, 
and  may  have  been  (indeed  it  was),  the  means  of  saving 
these  gamblers,  and  of  aiding  others  through  their  in- 
fluence toward  that  nobler  life  which  alone  is  worth 
the  living." 

The  old  man  had  come  from  Westfield,  Mass.  He 
died  in  1888,  at  Salem,  Oregon,  having  spent  the  last 
seven  years  of  his  life  as  a  Christian  Missionary  among 
the  sailors  of  the  Pacific  coast.  He  passed  away  re- 
joicing in  the  faith  that  took  him 


110  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

"  Nearer  the  Father's  House, 
Where  many  mansions  be, 
Nearer   the  great   white   throne. 
Nearer  the  jasper  sea." 

The  boy,  Harry,  utterty  renounced  gambling  and 
kindred  vices. 

While  coming  from  Bombay  to  Aden,  cholera  broke 
out  on  the  ship  and  it  was  strictly  quarantined.  It 
was  a  ship  of  grief  and  terror.  Passengers  daily  lost 
loved  ones.  New  victims  were  stricken  every  hour. 
The  slow  days  dragged  away  with  death  unceasingly 
busy  among  them.  Burials  were  constant,  and  no  man 
knew  who  would  be  the  next  victim.  But  Colonel  Con- 
well  escaped  contagion. 

On  the  trip  home,  across  the  Atlantic,  the  steamer 
in  a  fearful  gale  was  so  dismantled  as  to  be  helpless. 
The  fires  of  the  engine  were  out,  and  the  boat  for 
twenty-six  days  drifted  at  the  mercy  of  the  waves. 
'No  one,  not  even  the  Captain,  thought  they  could  escape 
destruction.  Water-logged  and  unmanageable,  during  a 
second  storm  it  was  thought  to  be  actually  sinking.  The 
Captain  himself  gave  up  hope,  the  women  grew  hyster- 
ical. But  in  the  midst  of  it  all.  Colonel  CouAvell  walked 
the  deck,  and  to  calm  the  passengers  sang  "  l^earer  my 
God  to  Thee,"  with  such  feeling,  such  calm  assurance  in 
a  higher  power,  that  the  passengers  and  Captain  once 
again  took  courage.  But  strangest  of  all,  on  this  voy- 
age, while  sick,  he  was  cared  for  by  the  very  colored 
porter  whose  life  he  had  saved  on  the  Mississippi  steam- 
boat. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

BUSY  DAYS  IN  BOSTON 

Editor  of  "  Boston  Traveller."  Free  Legal  Advice  for  the  Poor. 
Temperance  Work.  Campaign  Manager  for  General  Nathaniel 
P.  Banks.  Urged  for  Consulship  at  Naples.  His  Work  for 
the  Widows  and  Orphans  of  Soldiers. 

RETUENIFG  to  Somerville,  Mass.,  the  long  jour- 
ney ended,  he  found  the  editorial  chair  of  the 
"  Boston  Traveller  "  awaiting  him.  He  plunged 
into  work  with  his  characteristic  energy.  The  law, 
journalism,  writing,  lecturing,  all  claimed  his  attention. 
It  is  almost  incredible  how  much  he  crowded  into  a 
day.  Five  o'clock  in  the  morning  found  him  at  work, 
and  midnight  struck  before  he  laid  aside  pen  or  book. 
Yet  with  all  this  rush  of  business,  he  did  not  forget 
those  resolves  he  had  made  to  lend  a  helping  hand 
wherever  he  could  to  those  needing  it.  And  his  own 
bitter  experiences  in  the  hard  school  of  poverty  taught 
him  how  sorely  at  times  help  is  needed.  He  made 
his  work  for  others  as  much  a  part  of  his  daily  life  as 
his  work  for  himself.  It  was  an  integTal  part  of  it. 
Watching  him  work,  one  could  hardW  have  distin- 
guished when  he  was  occupied  with  his  own  affairs,  when 
with  those  of  the  poor.  He  did  not  separate  the  two, 
label  one  "  charity  "  and  attend  to  it  in  spare  moments. 
One  was  as  important  to  him  as  the  other.  He  kept 
his  law  oflQce  open  at  nis^ht  for  those  who  could  not 

ill 


112  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

come  during  the  day  and  gave  counsel  and  legal  advice 
free  to  the  poor.  Often  of  an  evening  he  had  as  many 
as  a  half  hundred  of  these  clients,  too  poor  to  pay  for 
legal  aid,  yet  sadly  needing  help  to  right  their  wrongs. 
So  desirous  was  he  of  reaching  and  assisting  those 
suffering  from  injustice,  yet  without  money  to  pay  for 
the  help  they  needed,  that  he  inserted  the  following 
notice  in  the  Boston  papers: 

"  Any  deserving  poor  person  wishing  legal  advice  or  assistance 
will  be  given  the  same  free  of  charge  any  evening  except  Sunday, 
at  No.  10  Rialto  Building,  Devonshire  Street.  None  of  these  cases 
will  be  taken  into  the  courts  for  pay." 

These  cases  he  prepared  as  attentively  and  took  into 
court  with  as  eager  determination  to  win,  as  those  for 
which  he  received  large  fees.  Of  course  such  a  pro- 
ceeding laid  him  open  to  much  envious  criticism.  Law- 
yers who  had  no  such  humanitarian  view  of  life,  no 
such  earnest,  sincere  desire  to  lighten  the  load  of  pov- 
erty resting  so  heavily  on  the  shoulders  of  many,  said 
it  was  unprofessional,  sensational,  a  "  bid  for  popu- 
larity." Those  whom  he  helped  knew  these  insinua- 
tions to  be  untrue.  His  sympathy  was  too  sincere,  the 
assistance  too  gladly  given.  But  misunderstood  or  not, 
he  persevered.  The  wrongs  of  many  an  ignorant  work- 
ing man  suffering  through  the  greed  of  those  over  him, 
were  righted.  Those  who  robbed  the  poor  under  va- 
rious guises  were  made  to  feel  the  hand  of  the  law. 
And  for  none  of  these  cases  did  he  ever  take  a  cent 
of  pay. 

Another  class  of  clients  who  brought  him  much  work 
but  no  profit  were  the  widows  and  orphans  of  soldiers 
seeking  aid  to  get  pensions.     To  such  he  never  turned 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  113 

a  deaf  ear,  no  matter  the  multitude  of  duties  that 
pressed.  He  charged  no  fee,  even  when  to  win  the 
case,  he  was  compelled  to  go  to  Washington.  ISTor 
would  he  give  it  up,  no  matter  what  work  it  entailed 
until  the  final  verdict  was  given.  His  partners  say  he 
never  lost  a  pension  case,  nor  ever  m.ade  a  cent  by  one. 

An  unwritten  law  in  the  office  was  that  neither  he 
nor  his  partners  should  ever  accept  a  case  if  their  client 
were  in  the  wrong,  or  guilty.  But  this  vei*y  fact  made 
wrongdoers  the  more  anxious  to  secure  him,  knowing  it 
would  create  the  impression  at  once  that  they  were 
innocent. 

A  story  which  went  the  rounds  of  legal  circles  in 
Boston  and  finally  was  published  in  the  "  Boston 
Sunday  Times,"  shows  how  he  was  cleverly  fooled  by 
a  pick-pocket.  The  man  charged  with  the  crime  came 
to  Colonel  Conwell  to  get  him  to  take  the  case.  So  well 
did  he  play  the  part  of  injured  innocence  that  Colonel 
Conwell  was  completely  deceived  and  threw  himself 
heart  and  soul  into  the  work  of  clearing  him.  When 
the  case  came  up  for  trial,  the  lawyer  and  client  sat 
near  together  in  the  court  room,  and  Colonel  Conwell 
made  such  an  earnest  and  forceful  plea  in  behalf  of 
the  innocent  young  man  and  the  harm  already  done 
him  by  having  such  a  charge  laid  at  his  door  that  it 
was  at  once  agreed  the  case  should  be  dismissed,  by  the 
District  Attorney's  consent.  So  lawyer  and  client 
walked  out  of  court  together,  happy  and  triumphant, 
to  Colonel  Conwell's  office,  where  the  pick-pocket  paid 
Colonel  Conwell  his  fee  out  of  the  lawyer's  own  pocket- 
book  which  he  had  deftly  abstracted  during  tke  course 
of  the  trial. 

The  incident  caused  much  amusement  at  the  time, 


114  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

and  It  was  a  long  while  iDefore  Colonel  Conwell  heard 
the  last  of  it. 

Into  work  for  temperance  he  went  heart  and  soul, 
not  only  in  speech  but  in  deed.  Though  he  never  drank 
intoxicating  liquor  himself,  he  could  never  see  a  man 
under  its  baneful  influence  but  that  heart  and  hand 
went  out  to  help  him.  Many  a  reeling  drunkard  he 
took  to  his  Somerville  home,  nursed  all  night,  and  in 
the  morning  endeavored  with  all  his  eloquence  to  awaken 
in  him  a  desire  to  live  a  different  life.  Deserted  wives 
and  children  of  drunkards  came  to  him  for  aid,  and 
many  of  the  free  law  cases  were  for  those  wronged 
through  the  curse  of  drink. 

Friend  always  of  the  workingman,  he  was  persistently 
urged  by  their  party  to  accept  a  nomination  for  Con- 
gress. But  he  as  persistently  refused.  But  he  worked 
hard  in  politics  for  others.  He  managed  one  campaign 
in  which  General  l^athaniel  P.  Banks  was  running  on 
an  independent  ticket,  and  elected  him  by  a  large  ma- 
jority. His  name  was  urged  by  Senators  Charles  Sum- 
ner and  Henry  Wilson  for  the  United  States  Consulship 
at  l^aples,  the  lectures  he  had  given  at  Cambridge,  Eng- 
land, on  Italian  history  having  attracted  so  much  favor- 
able comment  by  the  deep  research  they  showed,  and 
the  keen  appreciation  of  Italian  character.  He  was 
considered  an  expert  in  contested  election  cases  and  he 
frequently  appeared  before  the  Legislature  on  behalf 
of  cities  and  towns  on  matters  over  which  it  had  juris- 
diction. 

Mr.  Higgins,  who  knew  him  personally,  writing  of 
these  busy  days  in  "  Scaling  the  Eagle's  ISTest,"  says : 

"  He  prepared  and  presented  many  bills  to  Con- 
gressional Committees  at  Washington,  and  appeared  as 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  115 

counsel  in  several  Louisiana  and  Florida  election  cases. 
His  arguments  before  the  Supreme  Courts  in  several 
important  patent  cases  were  reported  to  the  countiy 
by  the  Associated  Press.  He  had  at  one  time  con- 
siderable influence  with  the  President  and  Senators  in 
political  appointments,  and  some  of  the  best  men  still 
in  government  office  in  this  State  (Massachusetts)  and 
in  other  l^ew  England  States,  saj  they  owe  their  ap- 
pointment to  his  active  friendship  in  visiting  Wash- 
ington in  their  behalf.  But  it  does  not  appear  that 
through  all  these  years  of  work  and  political  influence 
he  ever  asked  for  an  appointment  for  himself." 

Catholics,  Jews,  Protestants  and  non-sectarian  chari- 
ties sought  his  aid  in  legal  matters,  and  so  broad  was  his 
love  for  humanity  that  all  found  in  him  a  ready  helper. 
At  one  time  he  was  guardian  of  more  than  sixty  orphan 
children,  three  in  particular  who  were  very  destitute, 
Avere  through  his  intercession  with  a  relative,  left  a 
fortune  of  $50,000.  Yet  despite  all  these  activities, 
he  found  time  to  lecture,  to  write  books,  to  master  five 
languages,  using  his  spare  minutes  on  the  train  to  and 
from  his  place  of  business  for  their  study.  In  1872 
he  made  another  trip  abroad.  Speaking  of  him  at  this 
time,  a  writer  in  the  London  Times  says: 

"  Colonel  Conwell  is  one  of  the  most  noteworthy 
men  of  ISTew  England.  He  has  already  been  in  all 
parts  of  the  world.  Pie  is  a  writer  of  singular  bril- 
liancy and  power,  and  as  a  popular  lecturer  his  success 
has  been  astonishing.  He  has  made  a  place  beside 
such  orators  as  Beecher,  Phillips  and  Chapin." 

Thus  the  busy  years  slipped  by,  years  that  brought 
him  close  to  the  great  throbbing  heart  of  humanity,  the 
sorrows  and  sufferings  of  the  poor,  the  aspirations  and 


116  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

ambitions  of  the  rich,  years  in  wliicli  lie  looked  witK 
deep  insight  into  human  nature,  and,  illumined  by  his 
love  for  humanity,  saw  that  an  abiding  faith  in  God, 
the  joy  of  knowing  Christ's  love  was  the  balm  needed 
to  heal  aching  hearts,  drive  evil  out  of  men's  lives, 
wretchedness  and  misery  from  many  a  home.  More 
and  more  was  he  convinced  that  to  make  the  world 
better,  humanity  happier,  the  regenerating,  uplifting 
power  of  the  spirit  of  God  ought  to  be  brought  into  the 
daily  lives  of  the  people,  in  simple  sincerity,  without 
formalism,  yet  as  vital,  as  cherished,  as  freely  recog- 
nized a  part  of  their  lives  as  the  ties  of  family  affection 
which  bound  them  together. 


CHAPTER  XV: 

TROUBLED  DAYS 

Death  of  Wife.  Loss  of  Money.  Preaching  on  Wharves.  Growth 
of  Sunday  School  Class  at  Tremont  Temple  from  Four  to  Six 
Hundred  Members  in  a  Brief  Time.  Second  Marriage.  Death 
of  Father  and  Mother.  Preaching  at  Lexington.  Building 
Lexington  Baptist  Church. 

ISTTO  this  whirl  of  successful,  happj  work,  the 
comforts  and  luxuries  of  prosperity,  came  the  grim 
hand  of  death.  His  loving  wife  who  had  worked 
so  cheerfully  by  his  side,  who  had  braved  disaster, 
bitter  poverty,  hardship,  with  a  smile,  died  of  heart 
trouble  after  a  few  days'  illness,  January  11,  1872. 
It  was  like  a  thunderbolt  from  a  cloudless  sky.  In  the 
loneliness  and  despair  that  followed,  worldly  ambitions 
turned  to  dust  and  ashes.  He  could  not  lecture. 
He  could  not  speak.  The  desolation  at  his  heart  was 
too  great.  His  only  consolation  was  the  faith 
that  was  in  him,  a  "  very  present  help,"  as  he  found, 
"  in  time  of  trouble."  This  bitter  trial  brought 
home  to  him  all  the  more  intensely  the  need  of  such 
comfort  for  those  who  were  comfortless.  His 
heart  went  out  in  burning  sympathy  for  those  sit- 
ting in  darkness  like  himself,  but  who  had  no  faith 
on  which  to  lean,  nothing  to  bring  healing  and  hope  to 
a  broken  heart.  Her  death  was  a  loss  to  the  community 
as  well  as  to  her  family.     Her  writings  in  the  "  Somer- 

117. 


118  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

ville  Journal "  had  made  a  decided  impression,  while 
her  sweet  womanly  qualities  had  endeared  her  to  a  wide 
circle  of  friends.  looting  her  death,  a  writer  in  one 
of  the  Boston  papers  said: 

"  Mrs,  Conwell  was  a  true  and  loving  wife  and 
mother.  Kind  and  sympathetic  in  her  intercourse  with 
all,  and  possessed  of  those  rare  womanly  graces  and  qual- 
ities which  endeared  her  to  those  with  whom  she  was  ac- 
quainted. Her  death  leaves  a  void  which  cannot  be 
filled  even  outside  her  own  household.  Her  writings 
were  those  of  a  true  woman,  always  healthful  in  their 
tone,  strong  and  vigorous  in  ideas  and  concise  in  lan- 
guage." 

Other  troubles  came  thick  and  fast.  He  lost  at  one 
time  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  the  panic  of  '74,  and  at 
another  ten  thousand  dollars  by  endorsing  for  a  friend. 
His  old  acquaintance,  poverty,  again  took  up  its  abode 
wdth  him.  In  addition,  he  was  heavily  in  debt.  Those 
were  black  days,  days  that  taught  him  how  unstable 
were  the  things  of  this  world  — •  money,  position,  the 
ambitions  that  once  had  seemed  so  worthy.  The  only 
thing  that  brought  a  sense  of  satisfaction,  of  having 
done  something  worth  while,  was  the  endeavor  to  make 
others  happier,  to  put  joy  into  lives  as  desolate  as  his 
own.     Such  work  brought  peace. 

To  forget  his  own  troubles  in  lightening  those  of 
others,  he  went  actively  into  religious  work.  He 
took  a  class  in  the  Sunday  School  of  Tremont  Temple, 
that  very  Sunday  School  into  which  Deacon  Chipman 
had  taken  him  a  runaway  boy  some  twenty  years  before. 
The  class  grew  from  four  to  six  hundred  in  a  few 
months.  He  preached  to  sailors  on  the  whan^es,  to 
idlers  on  the  streets,  in  mission  chapels  at  night.     The 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  119 

present  West  Somerville,  Massacliiisetts,  clmrch  grew 
from  just  such  work.  He  could  not  but  see  the  fruits 
of  his  labors.     On  all  sides  it  grew  to  a  quick  harvest. 

The  thought  that  he  was  thus  influencing  others  for 
good,  that  he  was  leading  men  and  women  into  paths 
'  of  sure  happiness  brought  him  a  spiritual  calm  and 
peace  such  as  the  gratification  of  worldly  ambitions  had 
never  given  him.  More  and  more  he  became  convinced 
it  was  the  only  work  worth  doing.  The  strong  love 
for  his  fellowmen,  the  desire  to  help  those  in  need  and  to 
make  them  happier  which  had  always  been  such  a  pro- 
nounced characteristic,  had  set  him  more  than  once  to 
thinking  of  the  ministry  as  a  life  work.  Indeed,  ever 
since  that  childish  sermon,  with  the  big  gray  rock  as 
a  pulpit,  it  had  been  in  his  mind,  sometimes  dormant, 
breaking  out  again  into  strong  feeling  when  for  a 
moment  he  stood  on  some  hilltop  of  life  and  took  in  its 
fullest,  grandest  meaning,  or  in  the  dark  valley  of 
suffering  and  sorrow  held  close  communion  with  God 
and  saw  the  beauty  of  serving  Him  by  serving  his 
fellowmen.  That  the  inclination  was  with  him  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  when  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
Albany  in  1865,  he  had  a  Greek  Testament  in  his  pocket. 

As  soon  as  his  means  permitted  after  the  war,  he 
gathered  a  valuable  theological  library,  sending  to 
Germany  for  a  number  of  the  books.  In  1875,  when 
he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  he  delivered  an  address  that  same 
evening  in  Washington  on  the  "  Curriculum  of  the 
School  of  the  Prophets  in  Ancient  Israel."  From  all 
parts  of  the  Old  World  he  gathered  photographs  of 
ancient  manuscripts  and  sacred  places,  and  kept  up  a 
correspondence  with  many  professors  and  explorers  in- 


120  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

terested  in  these  topics.  He  lectured  in  schools  and  col- 
leges on  archaeological  subjects,  with  illustrations  pre- 
pared by  himself. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  with  his  keen  mind  and 
his  gift  of  oratory  the  law  tempted  him  at  first  to 
turn  aside  from  the  promptings  of  the  inner  spirit 
Il^or  is  it  to  be  wondered  that  even  when  inclination 
led  strongly  he  still  hesitated.  It  was  no  light  thing 
for  a  man  past  thirty  to  throw  aside  a  profession  in 
which  he  had  already  made  an  enviable  reputation  and 
take  up  a  new  lifework.  With  two  small  children  de- 
pending upon  him,  it  was  a  question  for  still  more  seri- 
ous study. 

But  gradually  circumstances  shaped  his  course.  In 
1874,  he  married  Miss  Sarah  F.  Sanborn  whom  he 
had  met  in  his  mission  work.  She  was  of  a  wealthy 
family  of  N^eAvton  Centre,  the  seat  of  the  jSTewton  Theo- 
logical Seminary.  One  of  the  intimate  friends  of  the 
family  was  the  Rev.  Alvah  Hovey,  D.D.,  President  of 
the  Seminary.  Thus  while  inclination  pulled  one  way 
and  common  sense  pulled  the  other,  adding  as  a  final 
argument  that  he  had  no  opportunity  to  study  for  the 
ministry,  he  was  thrown  among  the  very  people  who 
made  it  difficult  not  to  study  theology.  Troubled  in 
mind  he  sought  Dr.  Hovey  one  day  and  asked  how  to 
decide  if  "  called  t-o  the  ministry."  "  If  people  are 
called  to  hear  you,"  was  the  quick-witted,  practical  re- 
ply of  the  good  doctor.  But  still  he  hesitated.  His 
law  practice,  writing,  lecturing,  claimed  part  of  him ; 
his  Sunday  School  work  and  lay  preaching,  a  second 
and  evergrowing  stronger  part.  His  law  practice  be- 
came more  and  more  distasteful,  his  service  to  the  soul 
needs  of  others,  more  and  more  satisfying. 


MRS.   SARAH   F.   CONWELL 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  121 

In  1874  his  father  died,  and  in  1877  he  lost  his 
mother,  these  sad  bereavements  still  further  inclining 
his  heart  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  They  were 
buried  at  South  Worthington,  in  a  sunny  hilltop  ceme- 
tery, open  to  the  slrv,  the  voice  of  a  little  brook  coming 
softly  up  from  among  the  trees  below.  This  visit  to 
his  old  home  under  such  sad  circumstances,  the  mem- 
ory of  his  father's  and  mother's  prayers  that  the  world 
might  not  be  the  worse,  but  that  it  might  be  the  better 
for  his  having  lived  in  it,  deepened  the  growing  con- 
viction that  he  should  give  his  life  to  the  work  of 
Christ. 

At  last  came  the  deciding  event.  In  1879,  a  young 
woman  visited  Colonel  Conwell,  the  lawyer,  and  asked 
his  advice  respecting  the  disposition  of  a  Baptist  Meet- 
ing House  in  Lexington.  He  went  to  Lexington  and 
called  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  old  church,  for 
the  pui'pose  of  securing  legal  action  on  the  part  of  that 
body  preparatoi7>^  to  selling  the  property.  He  got  some 
three  or  four  old  Baptists  together  and,  as  they  talked 
the  business  over,  "  they  became  reluctant  to  vote,  either 
to  sell,  destroy,  keep,  or  give  away  the  old  meeting- 
house," says  Burdette,  in  "  Temple  and  Templars." 
"  While  discussing  the  situation  with  these  sorrowful 
old  saints  —  and  one  good  old  deacon  wept  to  think  that 
'  Zion  had  gone  into  captivity,' —  the  preacher  came 
to  the  front  and  displaced  the  lawyer.  It  was  the 
crisis  in  his  life ;  the  parting  of  the  ways.  In  a  flash 
of  light  the  decision  was  made.  '  It  flashed  upon  me, 
sitting  there  as  a  law;>^er,  that  there  was  a  mission  for 
me  there,'  Dr.  Conwell  has  often  said,  in  speaking  of 
his  decision  to  go  into  the  ministry.  He  advised 
promptly    and   strongly   against   selling   the    property. 


122  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

'  Keep  it ;  hold  service  in  it ;  repair  the  altar  of  the 
Lord  that  is  broken  down;  go  to  work;  get  God  to 
work  for  you,  and  work  with  Him  ;  '  God  will  turn  again 
your  captivity,  your  mouths  shall  be  filled  with  laughter 
and  your  tougTies  with  singing.' '  They  listened  to  this 
enthusiastic  lawyer  whom  they  had  retained  as  a  legal 
adviser,  in  dumb  amazement  — '  Is  Saul  also  among 
the  prophets  ? '  But  having  given  his  advice,  he  was 
prompt  to  act  upon  it  himself.  '  Where  will  we  get  a 
preacher  ? '  '  Here  is  one  who  will  serve  you  until  you 
can  get  one  whom  you  will  like  better,  and  who  can  do 
you  more  good.  Announce  preaching  in  the  old  meeting 
house  next  Sunday ! ' 

"  It  was  nothing  new  for  Colonel  Conwell  to  preach, 
for  he  was  engaged  in  mission  work  somewhere  every 
Sunday;  so  when  the  day  came,  he  was  there.  Less 
than  a  score  of  hearers  sat  in  the  moldy  old  pews.  The 
windows  were  broken  and  but  illy  repaired  by  the  cur- 
taining cobwebs.  The  hand  of  time  and  decay  had 
torn  off  the  ceiling  plaster  in  irregular  and  angular 
patches.  The  old  stove  had  rusted  out  at  the  back, 
and  the  crumbling  stove-pipe  was  a  menace  to  those 
who  sat  within  range  of  its  fall.  The  pulpit  was 
what  Mr.  Conwell  called  a  *  crow's  perch,'  and  one  can 
imagine  the  platform  creaking  under  the  military  tread 
of  the  tall  lawyer  who  stepped  into  its  lofty  height 
to  preach.  But,  old  though  it  was,  they  say,  a  cold, 
gloomy,  damp,  dingy  old  box,  it  was  a  meeting  house 
and  the  Colonel  preached  in  it.  That  a  lawyer  should 
practice,  was  a  commonplace,  everyday  truth;  but  that 
a  lawyer  should  preach  —  that  was  indeed  a  novelty. 
The  congregation  of  sixteen  er  seventeen  at  the  first 
service  grew  the  following  Sabbath,  to  forty  worship- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  123 

pers.  Another  week,  and  when  the  new  preacher 
climbed  into  that  his^h  pulpit,  he  looked  down  npon  a 
crowded  honae ;  the  little  old  chapel  was  dangerously 
full.  Indeed,  before  the  hour  for  service,  under  the 
thronging  feet  of  the  gathering  congregation,  one  side 
of  the  front  steps  — » astonished,  no  doubt,  and  over- 
whelmed by  the  unwonted  demand  upon  its  services 
—  did  fall  down.  They  were  encouraged  to  build  a 
fire  in  the  ancient  stove  that  morning,  but  it  was  past 
regeneration  ;  it  smoked  so  viciously  that  all  the  invalids 
who  had  come  to  the  meeting  were  smoked  out.  The 
old  stove  had  lived  its  day  and  was  needed  no  longer. 
There  was  a  fire  burning  in  the  old  meeting-house  that 
the  hand  of  man  had  not  lighted  and  could  not  kindle ; 
that  all  the  storms  of  the  winter  could  not  quench. 
The  pulpit  and  the  preacher  had  a  mist}^  look  in  the 
eyes  of  the  old  deacons  at  that  service.  And  the 
preacher  ?  He  looked  into  the  earnest  faces  before  him, 
into  the  tearful,  hopeful  eyes,  and  said  in  his  own 
strong  heart,  '  These  people  are  hungi-y  for  the  word  of 
God,  for  the  teachings  of  Christ.  .They  need  a  church 
here ;  we  will  build  ai  new  one.' 

"  It  was  one  thing  to  say  it,  another  to  achieve  it. 
The  church  was  poor.  ISTot  a  dollar  was  in  the  treas- 
ury, not  a  rich  man  in  the  membership,  the  congregation, 
what  there  was  of  it,  without  influence  in  the  com- 
munity. But  lack  of  money  never  yet  daunted  Dr. 
Conwell.  The  situation  had  a  familiar  look  to  him. 
He  had  succeeded  many  a  time  without  money  when 
money  was  the  supreme  need,  and  he  attacked  this  prob- 
lem with  the  same  grim  perseverance  that  had  carried 
him  so  successfully  through  many  a  similar  ordeal." 

"  After  service  he  spoke  about  building  a  new  church 


124  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

to  two  or  three  of  the  memhers.  ^  A  new  church  ?  * 
They  couldn't  raise  enough  money  to  put  windows  in 
the  old  one,  they  told  him." 

"  '  "We  don't  want  new  windows,  we  want  a  new 
church,'  was  the  reply." 

"  They  shook  their  heads  and  went  home,  thinking 
what  a  pity  it  was  that  such  an  able  lawyer  should 
be  so  visionary  in  practical  church  affairs.  Part  of 
that  night  Colonel  Conwell  spent  in  prayer;  early  next 
morning  he  appeared  with  a  pick-axe  and  a  woodman's 
axe  and  marched  upon  that  devoted  old  meeting-house, 
as  he  had  marched  against  Hood's  intrenchments  before 
Atlanta.  Strange,  unwonted  sounds  saluted  the  ears  of 
the  early  risers  and  awakened  the  sluggards  in  Lexing- 
ton that  Monday  morning.  Bang,  Bang,  Bang !  Crash 
— ■  Bang !  Travelers  over  the  Eevolutionary  battle-field 
at  Lexington  listened  and  wondered.  By  and  by  a  man 
turned  out  of  his  way  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the 
racket.  There  was  a  black  coat  and  vest  hanging  on 
the  fence,  and  a  professional-looking  man  in  his  shirt 
sleeves  was  smashing  the  meeting-house.  The  rickety 
old  steps  were  gone  by  the  time  this  man,  with  open 
eyes  and  wide-open  mouth,  came  to  stare  in  speechless 
amazement.  Gideon  couldn't  have  demolished  '  the  al- 
tar of  Baal  and  the  grove  that  was  by  it'  with  m.ore 
enthusiastic  energ^,  than  did  this  preacher  tumble  into 
ruin  his  own  meeting-house,  wherein  he  had  preached 
not  twelve  hours  before.  Other  men  came,  looked, 
laughed,  and  passed  by.  But  the  builder  had  no  time 
to  waste  on  idle  gossips.  Clouds  of  dust  hovered  about 
]iim,  planks,  boards,  and  timbers  came  tumbling  down 
i'li  heaps  of  ruin." 

"Presently  there  came  along  an  eminently  respectable 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  125 

citizen,  wlio  seldom  went  to  cliurch.  He  stared  a  mo- 
ment, and  said,  '  What  in  the  name  of  goodness  are  you 
doing  here  ? '  " 

"  '  We  are  going  to  have  a  new  meeting-house  here,' 
was  the  reply,  as  the  pick-axe  tore  away  the  side  of  a 
window-frame  for  emphasis." 

"  The  neighbor  laughed,  '  I  guess  you  won't  build 
it  with  that  axe/  he  said." 

"  '  I  confess  I  don't  know  just  exactly  how  it  is 
going  to  be  done,'  said  the  preacher,  as  he  hewed  away 
at  a  piece  of  studding,  '  but  in  some  way  it  is  going 
to  be  done.'  " 

"  The  doubter  burst  into  an  explosion  of  derisive 
laughter  and  walked  away.  A  few  paces,  and  he  came 
back ;  walking  up  to  Colonel  Conwell  he  seized  the  axe 
and  said,  '  See  here,  Preacher,  this  is  not  the  kind  of 
work  for  a  parson  or  a  lawyer.  If  you  are  determined 
to  tear  this  old  building  down,  hire  some  one  to  do  it. 
It  doesn't  look  right  for  you  to  be  lifting  and  pulling 
here  in  this  manner.'  " 

"  '  We  have  no  money  to  hire  any. one,'  was  the  reply, 
'  and  the  front  of  this  structure  must  give  way  to-day, 
if  I  have  to  tear  it  down  all  alone.'  " 

"  '  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,'  persisted  the  wavering 
doubter ;  '  if  you  will  let  this  alone,  I'll  give  you  one 
hundred  dollars  to  hire  some  one.'  " 

"  Colonel  Conwell  tranquilly  poked  the  axe  through 
the  few  remaining  panes  yet  unbroken  in  the  nearest 
window  and  replied,  '  We  would  like  the  money,  and  I 
will  take  it  to  hire  some  one  to  help,  but  I  shall  keep 
right  on  with  the  work  myself.'  " 

"  '  All  right,'  said  the  doubter ;  '  go  ahead,   if  you 


12«  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

have  set  your  heart  -upon  it  You  may  come  np  to 
the  house  for  the  hundred  dollars  any  time  to-day.'  " 

"  And  with  many  a  backward  look  the  generous 
douhter  passed  on,  half  beginning  to  doubt  his  doubts. 
Evidently,  the  Baptists  of  Lexington  -were  beginning 
to  do  something.  It  had  been  many  a  year  since  they 
had  made  such  a  noise  as  that  in  the  village.  And  it 
was  a  noise  destined  to  be  heard  a  long,  long  way ;  much 
farther  than  the  doubter  and  a  great  many  able  scien- 
tists have  supposed  that  sound  would  '  carry.'  " 

"  After  the  doubter  came  a  good-natured  man  who 
disliked  churches  in  general,  and  therefore  enjoyed  the 
fun  of  seeing  a  preacher  tug  and  jjuff  in  the  heavy 
work  of  demolition,  for  the  many-tongued  rumor  by  this 
time  had  noised  it  all  around  Lexington  that  the  new- 
preacher  was  tearing  down  the  Baptist  meeting-house. 
He  looked  on  until  he  could  no  longer  keep  his  enjoy- 
ment to  himself." 

"  '  Goin?  to  pull  the  whole  thing  down,  are  you  ?  * 
he  asked."  ^ 

" '  Yes,  sir,'  replied  the  working  preacher,  ripping 
off  a  strip  of  siding,  '  and  begin  all  new.'  " 

"  '  Who  is  going  to  pay  the  bills  ? '  he  asked,  chuck- 
ling." 

"  The  preacher  tucked  up  his  sleeves  and  stepped 
back  to  get  a  good  swing  at  an  obstinate  brace ;  '  I  don't 
know,'  he  said,  '  but  the  Lord  has  money  somewhere  to 
buy  and  pay  for  all  we  need.'  " 

"  The  man  laughed,  in  intense  enjoyment  of  the  ab- 
surdity of  the  whole  crazy  business." 

"  '  I'll  bet  five  dollars  to  one,'  he  said,  with  easy 
confidence  of  a  man  who  knows  liis  bet  will  not  be  taken 
up,  '  that  you  won't  get  the  money  in  this  town.'  " 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  l- 

"  Mr.  Conwell  brought  the  axe  do-^im  with  a  crashing 
sweep,  and  the  splinters  flew  out  into  the  air  like  a  cloud 
of  witnesses  to  the  effieacv  of  the  blow." 

"  '  You  would  lose  your  money,  then,'  quietly  said 

the  preacher,  '  for  Mr. just  now  came  along  and 

has  given  me  a  hundred  dollars  without  solicitation.'  " 

"  The  man's  eyes  opened  a  trifle  wider,  and  his  next 
remark  faded  into  a  long-drawn  whistle  of  astonish- 
ment. Presently  — '  Did  you  get  the  cash  ? '  he  asked 
feebly." 

" '  'Ko,  but  he  told  me  to  call  for  it  to-day.'  " 

"  The  man  considered.  He  wasn't  enjoying  the  situ- 
ation with  quite  so  much  humor  as  he  had  been,  but 
he  was  growing  more  interested." 

"  '  Well !  Is  that  so !  I  don't  believe  he  meant  it/ 
he  added  hopefully.  Then,  a  man  after  all  not  disposed 
to  go  back  on  his  own  assertion,  he  said,  ^  Xow  I'll  tell 
you  what  I'll  do.  If  you  really  get  that  hundred 
dollars  out  of  that  man,  I'll  give  you  another  hundred 
and  pay  it  to-night.'  " 

"  And  he  was  as  good  as  his  word.'-' 

"  All  that  day  the  preacher  worked  alone.  Xow 
came  in  the  training  of  those  early  days  on  the  farm, 
when  he  learned  to  swing  an  axe :  when  he  builded  up 
rugged  strength  in  a  stalwart  frame,  when  his  muscles 
were  hardened  and  knotted  with  toil." 

'*' '  Passers-by  called  one  after  another,  to  ask  what 
was  going  on.  To  each  one  Colonel  Conwell  mentioned 
his  hope  and  mentioned  his  gifts.  Xearly  every  one 
had  adde<i  something  without  being  asked,  and  at  six 
o'clock,  when  Colonel  Conwell  laid  down  the  pick  and 
axe  at  the  end  of  his  day's  work,  he  was  promised  more 


128  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

than  half  the  money  necessary  to  tear  down  the  old 
meeting-house  and  build  a  new  one." 

"  But  Colonel  Conwell  did  not  leave  the  work.  With 
shovel,  or  hammer,  or  saw,  or  paint-brush,  he  worked 
day  by  day  all  that  summer  alongside  the  workmen. 
He  was  architect,  mason,  carpenter,  painter,  and  up- 
holsterer, and  he  directed  every  detail,  from  the  cellar 
to  the  gilded  vane,  and  worked  early  and  late.  The 
money  came  without  asking  as  fast  as  needed.  The 
young  people  who  began  to  flock  about  the  faith- 
worker  undertook  to  purchase  a  large  bell,  and  quietly 
had  Colonel  Conwell's  name  cast  on  the  exterior,  but 
when  it  came  to  the  difficult  task  of  hanging  it  in  the 
tower,  they  were  obliged  to  call  Colonel  Conwell  to 
come  and  superintend  the  management  of  ropes  and 
pulleys.  Then  the  deep,  rich  tones  of  the  bell  rang 
out  over  the  surprised  old  town  the  triumph  of  faith.' 
An  unordained  preacher,  he  had  entered  upon  his  first 
pastorate,  and  signalized  his  entrance  upon  his  min- 
istry by  building  a  new  meeting-house,  awakening  a 
sleeping  church,  inspiring  his  congregation  with  his 
o^vn  enthusiasm  and  zeal." 

At  last  he  had  found  his  work.  With  peace  and 
deep  abiding  joy  he  entered  it.  Doubts  no  longer 
troubled  him.  His  heart  was  at  rest.  "  Blessed  is 
he  who  has  found  his  work,"  writes  Carlyle ;  "  let  him 
ask  no  other  blessedness." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

HIS  ENTRY   INTO   THE  MINISTRY 

Ordination.     First  Charge  at  Lexington.     Call  to  Grace  Baptist 
Church,  Philadelphia. 

FOR  this  work  he  had  been  trained  in  the  world's 
bitter  school  of  experience.  He  had  learned 
lessons  there  of  infinitely  more  value  in  helping 
humanity  than  any  the  theological  seminary  could  teach 
him.  He  knew  what  it  was  to  be  poor,  to  be  utterly 
cast  down  and  discouraged,  to  be  sick  and  suffering, 
to  sit  in  the  blackness  of  despair  for  the  loss  of  loved 
ones.  From  almost  every  human  experience  he  could 
reach  the  hand  of  sympathy  and  say,  "  I  know.  I  have 
suffered."  Such  help  touches  the  heart  of  humanity  as 
none  other  can.  And  when  at  the  same  time,  it  points 
the  way  to  the  Great  Comforter  and  says  again,  "  I 
know,  I  found  peace,"  it  is  more  powerful  than  the 
most  eloquent  sermon.  N^othing  goes  so  convincingly 
to  a  man's  heart  as  loving,  sympathetic  guidance  from 
one  who  has  been  through  the  same  bitter  trial. 

He  was  ordained  in  the  year  1879,  the  council  of 
churches,  called  for  his  ordination,  met  in  Lexington, 
President  Alvah  Hovey  of  Newton  Seminary  presiding. 
Among  the  members  of  the  council  was  his  life-long 
friend,  George  W.  Chipman,  of  Boston,  the  same  good 
deacon  who  had  taken  him  a  runaway  boy  into  the 
Sundnv  School  of  Tremont  Temple.    The  onlv  objection 

9'  129 


130  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

to  the  ordination  was  made  bj  one  of  the  pastors  pres- 
ent, who  said,  "  Good  lawyers  are  too  scarce  to  be 
spoiled  by  making  ministers  of  them." 

The  ordination  over,  the  large  law  offices  in  Boston 
were  closed.  He  gave  his  undivided  time  and  atten- 
tion to  his  work  in  Lexington.  The  lawyer,  speaker 
and  writer  ceased  to  exist,  but  the  pastor  was  found 
wherever  the  poor  needed  help,  the  sick  and  suffering 
needed  cheer,  the  mourning  needed  comfort,  wherever 
he  could  by  word  or  act  preach  the  gospel  of  the  Christ 
he  served. 

His  whole  thought  was  concentrated  in  the  purpose 
to  do  good.  'No  one  wlio  knew  him  intimately  could 
doubt  his  entire  renunciation  of  worldly  ambitions,  the 
sacrifice  was  so  great,  yet  so  unhesitatingly  made, 
Buried  from  the  world  in  one  way,  he  yet  lived  in  it 
in  a  better  way.  Large  numbers  of  his  former  legal, 
political  and  social  associates  called  his  actio^n  fanati- 
cism. Wendell  Phillips,  meeting  Colonel  Conwell  and 
several  friends  on  the  wny  to  church,  one  Sunday  morn- 
ing, remarked  that  "  Olympus  has  gone  to  Delphi,  and 
Jove  has  descended  to  be  an  interpreter  of  oracles." 

His  salary  at  the  start  was  six  hundred  dollars  a 
year,  little  more  than  ten  dollars  a  week.  But  it  was 
enough  to  live  on  in  a  little  ISTew  England  village  and 
what  more  did  he  need  ?  The  contrast  between  it  and 
the  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  he  had  made  from  his 
law  practice  alone,  never  troubled  him. 

The  church  was  crowded  from  the  first  and  the  mem- 
bership grew  rapidly.  His  influence  quickly  spread  to 
other  than  church  circles.  The  town  itself  soon  felt 
the  effect  of  his  progi'essive,  energetic  spirit.  It  awoke 
to  new  life.    Other  suburban  villages  were  striding  for- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  131 

ward  into  cities  and  leaving  this  old  Battlefield  of  the 
Revolution  sleeping  under  its  majestic  elms.  Mr. 
Conwell  sounded  the  trumpet.  Progress,  enterprise, 
life  followed  his  eloquent  encouragement.  Strangers 
were  welcomed  to  the  town.  Its  unusual  beauty  became 
a  topic  of  conversation.  The  railroad  managers  heard 
of  its  attractivensss  and  opened  its  gates  with  better 
accommodations  for  travelers. 

The  governor  of  the  state  (Hon.  John  D.  Long) 
visited  the  place  on  Mr.  Conwell's  invitation,  and  large 
business  enterprises  were  started  and  strongly  sup- 
ported by  the  townspeople.  From  the  date  of  Mr. 
Conwell's  settlement  as  pastor,  the  town  took  on  a  new 
lease  of  life.  He  showed  them  what  could  be  done 
and  encouraged  them  to  do  it. 

One  of  the  town  officers  writing  of  that  time,  says: 
"  Lexington  can  never  forget  the  benefit  Mr.  Conwell 
conferred  during  his  stay  in  the  community." 

Then  all  unknown  to  Mr.  Conwell,  a  man  came  up 
to  Lexington  one  Sunday  in  1882,  from  Philadelphia, 
and  heard  him  preach  in  the  little  stone  church  under 
the  stately  ISTew  England  elms.  It  was  Deacon  Alex- 
ander Reed  of  the  Grace  Baptist  Church  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  as  a  result  of  his  visit,  Mr.  Conwell  received 
a  call  from  this  church  to  be  its  pastor.  It  was  like 
the  call  from  Macedonia  to  "  come  over  and  help  us." 
For  the  church  was  heavily  in  debt,  and  one  of  the 
arguments  Deacon  Reed  used  in  urging  Mr.  Conwell 
to  accept  was  that  he  "  could  save  the  church."  He 
could  have  used  no  better  argaiment.  It  was  the  call 
to  touch  Mr,  Conwell's  heart.  A  small  church,  and 
struggling  against  poverty ;  a  people  eager  to  work,  but 
needing  a  leader,     l^o  message  could  have  more  surely 


132  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

touched  that  heart  eager  to  help  others,  to  bring  bright- 
ness, joy  and  higher  aspirations  into  troubled  lives.  It 
was  a  wrench  to  leave  Lexington,  the  church  and  the 
people  who  had  grown  so  dear  to  him.  But  the  harvest 
called.    There  was  need  of  reapers  and  he  must  go. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

GOING  TO   PHILADELPHIA 

The  Early  History  of  Grace  Baptist  Church.  The  Beginning  of 
the  Sunday  Breakfast  Association.  Impressions  of  a  Sunday 
Service. 

THE  church  to  which  Mr.  Conwell  came  and  from 
which  has  grown  the  largest  Baptist  church  in 
the  country,  and  which  was  the  first  institutional 
church  in  America,  had  its  beginning  in  a  tent.  In  1870 
a  little  mission  was  started  in  a  hall  at  Twelfth  and 
Montgomery  Avenue  by  members  of  the  Young  Men's 
Association  of  the  Tenth  Baptist  Church.  The  com- 
mittee in  charge  was  Alexander  Reed,  Henry  C. 
Singley,  Fred  B.  Greul  and  John  Stoddart.  A 
Sunday  School  was  started  and ,  religious  services 
held  Thursday  evenings  and  Sunday  afternoons. 
The  little  mission  flourished,  and  within  a  year  it 
was  deemed  advisable  to  put  some  one  in  charge 
who  could  give  it  his  full  time.  The  Rev.  L.  B. 
Hartman  was  called  and  the  work  went  for\vard 
with  increasing  prosperity.  He  visited  the  families  in 
the  neighborhood,  interested  the  children  in  the  Sun- 
day School,  held  two  preaching  services  every  Sunday 
and  usually  two  prayer  meetings  during  the  week.  In 
1872,  evangelistic  services  were  held  which  resulted 
in  a  number  of  conversions.     The  need  now  became  so 

imperative  for  a  recognized  church,  that  on  Feb.  12, 

133 


134  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  C0NV7ELL 

1872,  one  was  formally  organized  with  forty-seven  mem- 
bers, L.  B.  Hartman  pastor,  and  John  A.  Stoddart, 
Henry  C.  Singley  and  G.  G.  ]\Iayhew,  deacons.  The 
membership  still  increased  rapidly,  the  little  hall  was 
crowded  to  discomfort,  and  it  was  decided  to  take  a 
definite  step  toward  securing  a  church  building  of 
their  own.  A  lot  was  purchased  at  Berks  and  Mervino 
for  $7,500,  a  tent  with  a  seating  capacity  of  500  erected, 
and  Grace  Baptist  Chnrch  had  its  first  home.  The 
opening  serv'ices  of  the  tent  were  memorable  for  many 
things. 

After  addresses  had  been  made  by  Drs.  Malcolm,  Ped- 
dle, Rowland  and  Wayland,  an  effort  was  made  to 
raise  the  twelve  hundred  dollars  due  on  the  tent,  A 
wealthy  la|yman,  Mr.  William  Bucknell,  offered  to  pay 
the  twelve  hundred  dollars  provided  the  members  of 
Grace  Baptist  Church  should  henceforth  abstain  from 
the  use  of  tobacco.  The  alert  chairman  said,-  "  All  who 
are  in  sympathy  with  Brother  Bucknell's  proposition, 
please  rise."  The  entire  audience  arose.  Mr.  Bucknell 
made  out  his  check  next  morning  for  twelve  hundred 
dollars. 

In  1874,  the  tent  was  moved  to  a  neighboring  lot, 
where  it  was  used  as  a  mission.  Homeless  wanderers 
were  taken  in,  fed  and  pointed  the  way  to  a  different 
and  better  life.  From  this  work  grew  the  Sunday 
Breakfast  Association  of  Philadelphia. 

A  contract  was  made  for  a  new  church  building, 
and  in  1875  Grace  Church  moved  into  the  basement  of 
the  new  building  at  Berks  and  Mervine  Streets.  But 
dark  days  came.  The  financial  burden  became  exces- 
sive. Judgment  bonds  were  entered  against  the  build- 
ing, the  sheriff  was  compelled  to  perform  his  unpleasant 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  135 

duty,  and  the  property  was  advertised  for  sale.  A 
council  of  Baptist  churches  was  called  to  determine 
what  should  be  done. 

The  sheriff  was  persuaded  to  wait.  The  members 
renewed  their  exertions  and  once  more  the  church  got 
on  its  financial  feet  sufficiently  to  meet  current  financial 
expenses.  The  plucky  fight  knit  them  together  in  strong 
bonds  of  good  fellowship.  It  strengthened  their  faith, 
gave  them  courage  to  go  forward,  and  taught  them  the 
joy  of  working  in  such  a  cause.  And  while  they  were 
struggling  with  poverty  and  looking  disaster  often  in 
the  face,  up  in  Massachusetts,  the  man  who  was  to  lead 
this  chosen  people  into  a  new  land  of  usefulness,  was 
himself  fighting  that  battle  as  to  whether  he  should 
hearken  to  the  voice  of  the  Spirit  that  was  calling  him 
to  a  new  work.  But  finall}^  he  left  all  to  follow  Him, 
and  when  this  church,  going  down  under  its  flood 
of  debt,  sent  out  a  cry  for  help,  he  heard  it  and  came. 
To  his  friends  in  Massachusetts  it  seemed  as  if  he  were 
again  throwing  himself  away.  To  leave  his  church 
in  Lexington  on  the  threshold  of  prosperity,  for  a  charge 
little  more  than  a  mission,  with  only  twenty-seven  pres- 
ent to  vote  on  calling  him,  seemed  the  height  of  folly. 
But  he  considered  none  of  these  things.  He  thought 
only  of  their  need. 

On  Thanksgiving  Day,  1882,  he  came.  The  outer 
walls  of  the  small  church  were  up,  the  roof  on,  but  the 
upper  part  was  unfinished,  the  worshippers  meeting  in 
the  basement.  And  over  it  hung  a  debt  of  $15,000. 
But  the  plucky  band  of  workers,  full  of  the  spirit  that 
makes  all  things  possible,  had  found  a  leader.  Both 
had  fought  bitter  fights,  had  endured  hardships  and  pri- 
vations, had  often  nothing  but  faith  to  lean  on,  and 


136  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

pastor  and  people  went  forward  to  the  great  work 
awaiting  them. 

Out  of  his  love  of  God,  his  great  love  of  humanity, 
his  desire  to  uplift,  to  make  men  better  and  happier, 
out  from  his  own  varied  experiences  that  had  touched 
the  deeps  of  sorrow  and  seen  life  over  all  the  globe, 
came  words  that  gripped  men's  hearts,  came  sermons 
that  packed  the  church  to  the  doors. 

It  was  not  many  months  before  his  preaching  began 
to  bear  fruits.  Not  only  was  the  neighborhood  stirred, 
but  people  from  all  parts  of  the  city  thronged  to  hear 
him. 

In  less  than  a  year,  though  the  seating  capacity  of  the 
church  was  increased  to  twelve  hundred,  crowds  stood 
all  through  the  service.  It  became  necessary  to  admit 
the  members  by  tickets  at  the  rear,  it  being  almost 
impossible  for  them  to  get  through  the  throngs  of 
strangers  at  the  front.  Upon  request,  these  -cards  of 
admission  were  sent  to  those  wishing  them,  a  proceed- 
ing that  led  to  much  misunderstanding  among  those 
who  did  not  know  their  purpose  nor  the  reason  for  their 
use.  But  it  was  the  only  way  that  strangers  in  the 
city  or  those  wishing  to  attend  a  special  service  could 
be  sure  of  ever  getting  into  the  church. 

A  Methodist  minister  of  Albany  gives  a  description 
in  "  Scaling  the  Eagle's  ISTest,"  of  his  attendance  at  a 
service  that  pictures  most  graphically  the  situation: 

"  I  arrived  at  the  church  a  full  hour  before  the  even- 
ing service.  There  was  a  big  crowd  at  the  front  door. 
There  was  another  crowd  at  the  side  entrance.  I  did 
not  know  how  to  get  a  ticket,  for  I  did  not  know,  till 
I  heard  it  in  the  jam,  that  I  must  have  one.  Two 
young  people,  who  like  many  got  tired  of  waiting,  gave 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  137 

me  their  tickets,  and  I  pushed  ahead.  I  was  deter- 
mined to  see  how  the  thing  was  done.  I  was  dread- 
fully squeezed,  but  I  got  in  at  the  back  entrance  and 
stood  in  the  rear  of  the  pretty  church.  All  the  camp 
chairs  were  already  taken.  Also  all  extra  seats.  The 
church  was  rather  fancifully  frescoed.  But  it  is  an 
architectural  gem.  It  is  half  amphitheatrical  in  style. 
It  is  longer  than  it  is  wide,  and  the  choir  gallery  and 
organ  are  over  the  preacher's  head.  It  looks  under- 
neath like  an  old-fashioned  sounding  board.  But  it  is 
neat  and  prettly.  The  carpet  and  cushions  are  bright 
red.  The  windows  are  full  of  mottoes  and  designs. 
But  in  the  evening  under  the  brilliant  lights  the  figures 
could  not  be  made  out. 

"  There  was  an  unusual  spirit  of  homeness  about  the 
place,  such  as  I  never  felt  in  a  church  before.  I  was  not 
alone  in  feeling  it.  The  moment  I  stood  in  the  audience 
room,  an  agreeable  sense  of  rest  and  pleasure  came  over 
me.  Everyone  else  appeared  to  feel  the  same.  There 
was  none  of  the  stiff  restraint  most  churches  have.  All 
moved  about  and  greeted  each  other  ^vith  an  ease  that 
was  pleasant  indeed.  I  saw  some  people  abusing  the 
liberty  of  the  place  b^  whispering,  even  during  the  ser- 
mon. They  may  have  been  strangers.  They  evidently 
belonged  to  the  lower  classes.  But  it  was  a  curiosity  to 
notice  the  liberty  every  one  took  at  pauses  in  the  service, 
and  the  close  attention  there  was  when  the  reading  or 
speaking  began. 

"  All  the  people  sang.  I  think  the  gi'eat  preacher 
has  a  strong  liking  for  the  old  hymns.  Of 
course  I  noticed  his  selection  of  Wesley's  favorite.  A 
little  boy  in  front  of  me  stood  upon  the  pew  when  the 
congregation    rose.     He    piped    out   in    song   with    all 


138  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL" 

his  power.  It  was  like  a  spring  canary.  It  was  dif- 
ficult to  tell  whether  the  strong  voice  of  the  preacher, 
or  the  chorus  choir,  led  most  in  the  singing.  A  well- 
dressed  lady  near  me  said  '  Good  evening,'  most  cheer- 
fully, as  a  polite  usher  showed  me  into  the  pew.  They 
say  that  all  the  members  do  that.  It  made  me  feel 
welcome.  She  also  gave  me  a  hymn-book.  I  saw  others 
being  greeted  the  same.  How  it  did  help  me  praise 
the  Lord !  At  home  with  the  people  of  God  !  That  is 
just  how  I  felt.  I  was  greatly  disappointed  in  the 
preacher.  Agreeably  so,  after  all.  I  expected  to  see 
an  old  man.  He  did  not  look  over  thirty-five.  He  was 
awkwardly  tall.  I  had  expected  some  eccentric  and 
sensational  afl^air.  I  do  not  know  just  what,  but  I 
had  been  told  of  many  strange  things.  I  think  now 
it  was  envious  misrepresentation.  The  whole  service 
was  as  simple  as  simple  can  be.  And  it  was  surely  as 
sincere  as  it  was  simple.  The  reading  of  the  hymns 
was  so  natural  and  distinct  that  they  had  a  new  mean- 
ing to  me.  The  prayer  was  very  short,  and  offered  in 
homely  language.  In  it  he  paused  a  moment  for  silent 
prayer,  and  every  one  seemed  to  hold  his  breath  in 
the  deepest,  real  reverence.  It  was  so  different  from 
my  expectations.  Then  the  collection.  It  was  not  an 
asking  for  money  at  all.  The  preacher  put  his  notice 
of  it  the  other  way  about.  He  said,  '  The  people  who 
wish  to  worship  God  by  giving  their  offering  into  the 
trust  of  the  church  could  place  it  in  the  baskets  which 
would  be  passed  to  any  who  wanted  to  give.'  The 
basket  that  went  down  to  the  altar  by  me  was  full 
of  money  and  envelopes.  Yet  no  one  was  asked  to  give 
anything.  It  was  all  voluntary,  and  really  an  offei'ing 
to  the  Lord.     I  had  never  seen  such  a  way  of  doing 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  139 

things  in  church  collections.  I  do  not  know  as  the 
minister  or  church  require  it  so.  The  churdi  was 
packed  in  every  comer,  and  people  stood  in  the  aisles. 
"  The  pulpit  platform  was  crowded  so  that  the 
preacher  had  nothing  more  than  standing  room.  Some 
people  sat  on  the  floor,  and  a  crowd  of  interested  boys 
leaned  against  the  pulpit  platform.  When  the  preacher 
arose  to  speak,  I  expected  something  strange.  It  did  not 
seem  possible  that  such  a  crowd  could  gather  year  after 
year  to  listen  to  mere  plain  preaching.  For  these  are 
degenerate  days.  The  minister  began  so  familiarly  and 
easily  in  introducing  his  text  that  he  was  half  through 
his  sermon  before  I  began  to  realize  that  he  was  actually 
in  his  sermon.  It  was  the  plainest  thing  possible.  I 
had  often  heard  of  his  eloquence  and  poetic  imagina- 
tion. But  there  was  little  of  either,  if  we  think  of  the 
old  ideas.  There  was  close  continuous  attention.  He 
was  surely  in  earnest,  but  not  a  sign  of  oratorical  dis- 
play. There  were  exciting  gestures  at  times,  and  lofty 
periods.  But  it  was  all  so  natural.  At  one  point  the 
whole  audience  burst  into  laughter  at  a  comic  turn  in  an 
illustration,  but  the  preacher  went  on  unconscious  of  it. 
It  detracted  nothing  from  the  solemn  theme.  It  was 
what  the  '  Chautauqua  Herald  '  last  year  called  a  '  Con- 
wellian  evening.'  It  was  unlike  anything  I  ever  saw  or 
heard.  Yet  it  was  good  to  be  there.  The  sermon  was 
crowded  with  illustrations,  and  was  evidently  unstudied 
They  say  he  never  takes  time  from  his  many  cares  to 
write  a  sermon.  That  one  was  surely  spontaneous.  But 
it  inspired  the  audience  to  better  lives  and  a  higher  faith. 
When  he  suddenly  stopped  and  quickly  seized  a  hymn- 
book,  the  audience  drew  a  long  sigh.  At  once  people 
moved  about  again  and  looked  at  each  other  and  smiled. 


140  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

The  whole  congregation  were  at  one  with  the  preacher. 
There  was  a  low  hum  of  whispering  voices.  But  all 
was  attention  again  when  the  hymn  was  read.  Then 
the  glorious  song.  One  of  the  finest  organists  in  the 
country,  a  blind  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Wood,  was 
the  power  behind  the  throne.  The  organ  did  praise 
God.  Every  one  was  carried  on  in  a  flood  of  praise. 
It  was  rich.  The  benediction  was  a  continuation  of 
the  sermon  and  a  closing  prayer,  all  in  a  single  sen- 
tence. I  have  never  heard  one  so  unique.  It  fastened 
the  evening's  lesson.  It  was  not  formal.  The  benedic- 
tion was  a  blessing  indeed.  It  broke  every  rule  of 
church  form.  It  was  a  charming  close,  however,  l^o 
one  else  but  Conwell  could  do  it.  Probably  no  one  will 
try.  Instantly  at  the  close  of  the  service,  all  the  people 
turned  to  each  other  and  shook  hands.  They  entered 
into  familiar  conversation.  Many  spoke  to  me  and 
invited  me  to  come  again.  There  was  no  restraint.  All 
was  homelike  and  happy.     It  was  blessed  to  be  there." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

FIRST  DAYS  AT  GRACE  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Early  plans  for  Church  Efficiency.     Practical  Methods  for  Church 
Work.     The  Growing  Membership.     Need  of  a  New  Building. 

THE  preaching  filled  the  church.  Men  and  women 
felt  that  to  miss  a  sermon  was  to  miss  inspiration 
and  strength  for  the  coming  week's  work,  a 
broader  outlook  on  life,  a  deeper  hold  on  spiritual  truths. 
But  it  was  more  than  the  sermons  that  carried  the  church 
work  forward  by  leaps  and  bounds,  added  hundreds  to 
its  membership,  made  it  a  power  for  good  in  the  neigh- 
borhood that  gradually  began  to  be  felt  all  over  the  city. 
The  spirit  of  the  sermons  took  practical  form.  Mr. 
Conwell  followed  no  traditions  or  conventions  in  his 
church  work.  He  studied  the  needs  of  the  neighbor- 
hood and  the  hour.  Then  he  went  to  work  with  prac- 
tical, common  sense  to  meet  them.  First  he  determined 
the  church  should  be  a  home,  a  church  home,  but  never- 
theless a  home  in  its  true  sense,  overflowing  with  love, 
with  kindness,  with  hospitality  for  the  stranger  within 
its  gates.  Committees  were  formed  to  make  strangers 
welcome,  to  greet  them  cordially,  find  them  a  seat  if 
possible,  see  that  they  had  hymn  books,  and  invite  them 
heartily  to  come  again.  And  every  member  felt  he  be- 
longed to  this  committee  even  if  not  actually  appointed 
on  it,  and  made  the  stranger  who  might  sit  near  him 

feel  that  he  was  a  welcome  guest.     When  the  church 

141 


142  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

became  more  crowded,  members  gave  up  their  seats  to 
strangers  and  sat  on  the  pulpit,  and  it  was  no  unusual 
siglit  in  the  church  at  Berks  and  Mervine  streets  to  see 
the  pulpit,  as  well  as  every  other  inch  o;f  space  in  the 
auditorium,  crowded.  Finally,  when  even  this  did  not 
give  room  enough  to  accommodate  all  who  thronged  its 
doors,  members  took  turns  in  staying  away  from  certain 
services.  No  one  who  has  not  enjoyed  the  spiritual 
uplift,  the  good  fellowship  of  a  Grace  Church  service 
can  appreciate  what  a  genuine  personal  sacrifice  that 
was. 

After  the  service,  Mr.  Conwell  stationed  himself  at 
the  door  and  shook  hands  with  all  as  they  left,  adding 
some  little  remark  to  show  his  personal  interest  in  their 
welfare  if  they  were  members,  or  a  cordial  invitation 
to  come  again,  if  a  stranger.  The  remembrance  of  that 
hearty  handclasp,  that  frank,  friendly  interest,  lingered 
and  stamped  witli  a  personal  flavor  upon  the  hearer's 
heart,  the  truths  of  Christianity  that  had  l^een  preached 
in  such  simple,  clear,  yet  forcible  fashion  from  the 
pulpit. 

Another  of  Mr.  Conwell's  methods  for  carrying  out 
practical  Christianity  was  to  set  every  body  at  work. 
Every  single  member  of  the  church  was  given  something 
to  do.  As  soon  as  a  person  was  received  into  the  mem- 
bership, he  was  invited  to  join  some  one  or  other  of 
the  church  organizations.  He  was  placed  on  some  com- 
mittee. In  such  an  atmosphere  of  activity  there  was  no 
one  Avho  did  not  catch  the  enthusiasm  and  feel  that  being 
a  Christian  meant  much  more  than  attending  church 
on  Sundays,  putting  contributions  in  the  box,  and  lis- 
tening to  the  minister  preach,  it  was  a  veritable  hive 
of  applied  Christianity,  and  many  a  man  who  hitherto 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  143 

thought  he  had  done  his  full  duty  by  attending  church 
regularly  and  contributing  to  its  support  had  these 
ideas,  so  comfortable  and  self-satisfied,  completely  shat- 
tered. 

The  membership  was  composed  almost  entirely  of 
working  people,  men  and  women  who  toiled  hard  for 
their  daily  bread.  There  were  no  wealthy  peoj^le  to 
help  the  work  by  contributions  of  thousands  of  dollars. 
The  beginnings  of  all  the  undertakings  were  small  and 
unpretentious.  But  nothing  was  undertaken  until  the 
need  of  it  was  felt ;  then  the  people  as  a  whole  put  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheel  and  it  went  with  a  will.  And 
because  it  practically  filled  a  need,  it  was  a  success. 

The  pastor  was  the  most  untiring  worker  of  all.  With 
ceaseless  energy  and  unfailing  tact,  he  was  the  head 
and  heart  of  every  undertaking.  Day  and  night  he  min- 
istered to  the  needs  of  his  membership  and  the  commu- 
nity. To  the  bedside  of  the  sick  he  carried  cheer  that 
was  better  than  medicine.  In  the  homes  where  death 
had  entered,  he  brought  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Where  disgrace  had  fallen  like  a  pall,  he  went  with 
words  of  hope,  and  practical  advice.  Parents  sought 
him  to  help  lead  erring  children  back  from  a  life  of 
wretchedness  and  evil.  Wherever  sorrow  and  trouble 
was  in  the  heart  or  home  he  went,  his  heart  full  of  sym- 
pathy, his  hands  eager  to  help. 

Much  of  his  time,  too,  in  those  early  days  of  his 
ministry  was  devoted  to  pastoral  calls,  not  the  formal 
ministerial  call  where  the  children  tiptoe  in,  awed  and 
silent,  because  the  "  minister  is  there."  Children  hailed 
his  coming  with  delight,  the  family  greeted  him  as  an 
old,  old  friend  before  whom  all  ceremony  and  conven- 
tion were  swept  awaj.    He  was  genuinely  interested  in 


144  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

their  family  affairs.  He  entered  into  their  plans  and 
ambitions,  and  he  never  forgot  any  of  their  personal 
history  they  might  tell  him,  so  that  each  felt,  and  truly, 
that  in  his  pastor  he  had  a  warm  and  interested  friend. 

His  own  simple,  informal  manner  made  every  one 
feel  instantly  at  home  with  him.  He  soon  became  a 
familiar  figure  upon  the  streets  in  the  neighborhood  of 
his  church,  for  morning,  noon  and  night  he  was  about 
his  work,  cherry,  earnest,  always  the  light  of  his  high 
calling  shining  from  his  face.  The  people  for  squares 
about  knew  that  here  was  a  man,  skilled  and  practical 
in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  to  whom  they  could  go  for 
advice,  for  help,  for  consolation,  sure  that  they  would 
have  his  ready  sympathy  and  the  best  his  big  heart 
and  generous  hands  could  give. 

Such  faithful  work  of  the  pastor,  such  earnest,  active 
work  of  the  people  could  not  but  tell.  The  family  feel- 
ing which  is  the  ideal  of  church  fellowship  was  so  strong 
and  warm  that  it  attracted  and  drew  people  as  with 
magnetic  power.  The  church  became  more  and  more 
crowded.  In  less  than  a  year  it  was  impossible  to  seat 
those  who  thronged  to  the  Sunday  services,  though  the 
auditorium  then  had  a  seating  capacity  of  twelve  hun- 
dred. 

"  I  am  glad,"  the  pastor  once  remarked  to  a  friend, 
"  when  I  get  up  Sunday  morning  and  can  look  out  of  the 
window  and  see  it  snowing,  sleeting,  and  raining,  and 
hear  the  wind  shriek  and  howl.  '  There,'  I  say,  '  I  won't 
have  to  preach  this  morning,  looking  all  the  while  at 
people  patiently  standing  through  the  service,  wher- 
ever tliere  is  a  foot  of  standing  room.'  " 

The  membership  rose  from  two  hundred  to  more  than 
five  hundred  within  two  years.     A  question  began  to 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  145 

shape  itself  in  the  minds  of  pastor  and  people.  "  What 
shall  we  do  ?  "  As  a  partial  solution  of  it,  the  proposi- 
tion was  made  to  divide  into  three  churches.  But,  as  in 
the  old  days  of  enlistment  when  two  companies  clamored 
for  him  for  captain,  all  three  sections  wanted  him  as 
pastor,  and  so  the  idea  was  abandoned. 

Still  the  membership  grew,  and  the  need  for  larger 
quarters  faced  them  imperatively  and  not  to  be  evaded. 
The  house  next  door  was  purchased  which  gave  in- 
creased space  for  the  work  of  the  Sunday  School  and 
the  various  associations.  But  it  was  a  mere  drop  in  the 
bucket.  Every  room  in  it  was  filled  to  overflowing  with 
eager  workers  before  the  ink  was  fairly  dry  on  the  deed 
of  transfer. 

Then  into  this  busy  crowd  wondering  what  should  be 
done  came  a  little  child,  and  with  one  simple  act  cleared 
the  mist  from  their  eyes  and  pointed  the  way  for  them 
to  go. 


10 


CHAPTEE  XIX 

HATTIE  WIATT'S  LEGACY 

How  a  Little  Child   Started   the  Building  Fund   for   the   Great 
Baptist  Temple, 

ONE  Sunday  afternoon  a  little  child,  Hattie  Wiatt, 
six  years  old,  came  to  the  dmrch  building  at 
Berks  and  Mervine  to  attend  the  Sunday  School. 
She  was  a  very  little  girl  and  it  was  a  very  large  Sunday 
School,  but  big  as  it  was  there  was  not  room  to  squeeze 
her  in.  Other  little  girls  had  been  turned  away  that  day, 
and  still  others,  Sundays  before.  But  it  was  a  bitter  dis- 
appointment to  this  small  child ;  the  little  lips  trembled, 
the  big  tears  rolled  down  her  cheeks  and  the  sobs  that 
came  were  from  the  heart.  The  pastor  himself  told 
the  little  one  wh^  she  could  not  come  in  and  tried  to 
comfort  her.  His  heart  was  big  enough  for  her  and  her 
trouble  if  the  church  was  not.  He  watched  the  childish 
figure  going  so  sadly  up  the  street  with  a  heart  that 
was  heavy  that  he  must  turn  away  a  little  child  from 
the  house  of  God,  from  the  house  raised  in  the  name  of 
One  who  said,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto 
me." 

She  did  not  forget  her  disappointment  as  many  a  child 
would.  It  had  been  too  grievous.  It  hurt  too  deeply 
to  think  that  she  could  not  go  to  that  Sunday  School, 
and  that  other  little  girls  who  wanted  to  go  must  stay, 
away.    With  quivering  lin  she  told  her  mother  there 

146 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  147 

wasn't  room  for  lier.  With  a  sad  little  heart  she  spent 
the  afternoon  thinking  about  it,  and  when  bedtime 
came  and  she  said  her  prayers,  she  prayed  with  a  child's 
beautiful  faith  that  they  would  find  room  for  her  so  that 
she  might  go  and  learn  more  about  Jesus.  Perhaps  she 
had  heard  some  word  dropped  about  faith  and  works. 
Perhaps  the  childish  mind  thought  it  out  for  herself. 
But  she  arose  the  next  morning  with  a  strong  purpose  in 
her  childish  soul,  a  purpose  so  big  in  faith,  so  firm  in  de- 
termination, it  could  put  many  a  strong  man's  efforts  to 
the  blush.  "  I  will  save  my  money,"  she  said  to  her- 
self, "  and  build  a  bigger  Sunday  School.  Then  we  can 
all  go." 

From  her  childish  treasures  she  hunted  out  a  little 
red  pocketbook  and  in  this  she  put  her  pennies,  one  at  a 
time.  What  temptations  that  childish  soul  struggled 
with  no  one  may  know !  How  she  shut  her  eyes  and 
steeled  her  heart  to  playthings  her  friends  bought,  to 
the  allurements  of  the  candy  shop  window  !  But  nothing 
turned  her  from  her  purpose.  Penny  by  penny  the  little 
hoard  grew.  Day  after  day  the  dimpled  fingers  counted 
it  and  the  bright  eyes  grew  brighter  as  the  sum  mounted. 
That  mite  cast  in  by  the  widow  was  no  purer,  greater 
offering  than  these  pennies  so  lovingly  and  heroically 
saved  by  tliis  little  child. 

But  there  were  only  a  few  weeks  of  this  planning, 
hoping,  saving.  The  little  Temple  builder  fell  ill.  It 
was  a  brief  illness  and  then  the  grim  Reaper  knocked  at 
the  door  of  the  Wiatt  home  and  the  loving,  self-sacri- 
ficing spirit  was  bom  to  the  Father's  House  where  there 
are  many  mansions,  where  there  was  no  lack  of  room 
for  the  little  heart  so  eager  to  learn  more  of  Jesus. 

With  her  dying  breath  she  told  her  mother  of  her 


148  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

treasure,  told  her  it  was  for  Grace  Baptist  Church  to 
build. 

In  the  little  red  pockethook  was  just  fifty-seven  cents. 
That  was  her  legacy.  With  swelling  heart,  the  pastor 
reverently  took  it;  with  misty  eyes  and  broken  voice 
he  told  his  people  of  the  little  one's  gift. 

"  And  when  they  heard  how  God  had  blessed  them 
with  so  great  an  inheritance,  there  was  silence  in  the 
room ;  the  silence  of  tears  and  earnest  consecration.  The 
comer  stone  of  the  Temple  was  laid." 


CHAPTER  XX 

BUILDING  THE  TEMPLE 

How  the   Money   was    Raised.     Walking    Clubs.     Jug   Breaking. 
The  Purchase  of  the  Lot.     Laying  the  Corner  Stone. 

THUS  was  their  path  pointed  ont  to  them  and  they 
walked  steadily  forward  in  it  from  that  day. 
Plans  were  made  for  raising  money.  The 
work  went  forward  with  a  vim,  for  ever  before  each 
worker  was  the  thought  of  that  tiny  girl,  the  precious 
pennies  saved  one  by  one  by  childish  self-denial.  The 
child's  faith  was  equaled  by  theirs.  It  was  a  case  of 
"  Come  unto  me  on  the  water."  They  were  poor.  No- 
body could  give  much.     But  nobody  hesitated. 

It  was  not  only  a  question  of  giving,  even  small  sums. 
What  was  given  must  be  saved  in  some  way.  Few  could 
give  outright  and  not  feel  it.  Incomes  for  the  most 
part  just  covered  lining  expenses,  and  expenses  must 
be  cut  down,  if  incomes  were  to  be  stretched  to  build  a 
church.  So  these  practical  people  put  their  wits  to 
work  to  see  how  money  could  be  saved.  Walking  clubs 
were  organized,  not  for  vigorous  cross  country  tramps 
in  a  search  for  pleasure  and  health,  but  with  an  earnest 
determination  to  save  carfare  for  the  building  fund. 
Tired  men  with  muscles  aching  from  a  hard  day's  work, 
women  weary  with  a  long  day  behind  the  counter 
or  typewriter,  cheerfully  trudged  home  and  saved  the 
nickels.    Women  economized  in  dress,  men  who  smoked 

149 


150  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

gave  it  up.  Vacations  in  the  summer  were  dropped. 
Even  the  boys  and  girls  saved  their  pennies  as  little 
Hattie  Wiatt  had  done,  and  the  money  poured  into  the 
treasury  in  astonishing  amounts,  considering  how  small 
was  each  individual  gift.  All  these  sacrifices  helped 
to  endear  the  place  to  those  who  wove  their  hopes  and 
prayers  about  it. 

A  fair  was  given  in  a  large  hall  in  the  centre  of  the 
city  which  brought  to  the  notice  of  many  strangers  the 
vigorous  work  the  church  was  doing  and  netted  nearly 
five  thousand  dollars  toward  the  building  fund.  It  was 
a  fair  that  went  with  a  vim,  planned  on  business  lines, 
conducted  in  a  practical,  sensible  fashion. 

Another  effort  that  brought  splendid  results  was  the 
giving  out  of  little  earthen  jugs  in  the  early  summer  to 
be  brought  to  the  harvest  home  in  September  with  their 
garnerings.  It  was  a  joyous  evening  when  the  jugs 
were  brought  in.  A  supper  was  given,  and  while  the 
church  members  enjoyed  themselves  at  the  tables,  the 
committee  sat  on  the  platform,  broke  the  jugs,  counted 
the  money  and  announced  the  amount.  The  sum  total 
brought  joyous  smiles  to  the  treasurer's  face. 

Innumerable  entertainments  were  held  in  the  church 
and  at  homes  of  the  church  members.  Suppers  were 
given  in  Faimiount  Park  during  the  summer.  Every 
worthy  plan  for  raising  money  that  clever  brains  could 
devise  and  willing  hands  accomplish  was  used  to  swell 
the  building  fund. 

Thus  the  work  went  ahead,  and  in  September,  1886, 
the  lot  on  which  The  Temple  now  stands  at  Broad  and 
Berks  was  purchased  at  a  cost  of  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars.  Thus  encouraged  with  tangible  results,  the 
work  for  the  building  fund  was  pushed,  if  possible,  with 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  151 

even  greater  vigor.  Ground  was  broken  for  The  Temple 
March  27,  1889.  The  comer  stone  was  laid  July  13, 
1890,  and  on  the  first  of  March,  1891,  the  house  was 
occupied  for  worship. 

The  only  large  amount  received  toward  the  building 
fund  was  a  gift  of  ten  thousand  dollars  on  condition 
that  the  church  be  not  dedicated  until  it  was  free  of 
debt.  In  a  legal  sense,  calling  a  building  by  the  name 
of  the  congregation  worshipping  in  it  is  a  dedication,  and 
so  the  building,  instead  of  being  called  The  Grace 
Baptist  Church,  was  called  the  Baptist  Temple,  a  name 
which  will  probably  cling  to  it  while  one  stone  stands 
upon  another. 

Raising  money  and  erecting  a  building  did  not  stop 
the  spiritual  work  of  the  church.  Rather  it  increased 
it.  People  heard  of  the  church  through  the  fairs  and 
various  other  efforts  to  raise  money,  came  to  the  service, 
perhaps  out  of  curiosity  at  first,  became  interested,  their 
hearts  were  touched  and  they  joined.  ISTever  did  its 
spiritual  light  bum  more  brightly  than  in  these  days  of 
hard  work  and  self-denial.  The  memberehip  steadily 
rose,  and  when  Grace  Church  moved  into  its  new  temple 
of  worship,  more  than  twelve  hundred  members  an- 
swered the  muster  roll. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

OCCUPYING  THE  TEMPLE 

The  First  Sunday.  The  Building  Itself  —  Its  Seating  Capacity, 
Furnishing  and  Lighting.  The  Lower  Temple  and  its  Various 
Rooms  and  Halls.  Services  Heard  by  Telephone  at  the  Samari- 
tan Hospital 

THAT  was  a  great  day  —  the  first  Sunday  in  the 
new  Temple.  Six  years  of  labor  and  love  had 
gone  to  its  building  and  now  they  possessed  the 
land. 

"  During  the  opening  exercises  over  nine  thousand 
people  were  present  at  each  service,"  said  the  "  Phila- 
delphia Press  "  writing  of  the  event.  The  throng  over- 
flowed into  the  Lower  Temple ;  into  the  old  church 
building.  The  whole  neighborhood  was  full  of  the  joy- 
ful members  of  Grace  Baptist  Church.  The  very  air 
seemed  to  thrill  with  the  spirit  of  thanksgiving  abroad 
that  day.  All  that  Sabbath  from  sunrise  until  close  to 
midnight  members  thronged  the  building  with  prayers 
of  thankfulness  and  praise  welling  up  from  glad  hearts. 

Writing  from  London  several  years  later,  Mr.  Con- 
well  voiced  in  words  what  had  been  in  his  mind  when 
the  church  was  planned : 

"  I  heard  a  seraion  which  helped  me  greatly.  It  was 
delivered  by  an  old  preacher,  and  the  subject  was, 
'  This  God  is  our  God.'  He  described  the  attributes  of 
God  in  glory,  knowledge,  wisdom  and  love,  and  cora- 

152 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  153 

pared  Him  to  the  gods  the  heathen  do  worship.  He 
then  pressed  upon  us  the  message  that  this  glorious  God 
is  the  Christian's  God,  and  with  Him  we  cannot  want. 
It  did  me  so  much  good,  and  made  me  long  so  much  for 
more  of  God  in  all  my  feelings,  actions,  and  influence. 
The  seats  were  hard,  and  the  back  of  the  pew  hard  and 
high,  the  church  dusty  and  neglected;  yet,  in  spite  of 
all  the  discomforts,  I  was  blessed.  I  was  sony  for  the 
preacher  who  had  to  preach  against  all  those  discom- 
forts, and  did  not  wonder  at  the  thin  congregation.  Oh  ! 
it  is  all  wrong  to  make  it  so  unnecessarify  hard  to  listen 
to  the  gospel.  They  ought  for  Jesus'  sake  tear  out  the 
old  benches  and  put  in  comfortable  chairs.  There  was 
an  air  about  the  service  of  perfunctoriness  and  lack  of 
object,  which  made  the  service  indefinite  and  aimless. 
This  is  a  common  fault.  We  lack  an  object  and  do  not 
aim  at  anything  special  in  our  sen^ices.  That,  too, 
is  all  wrong.  Each  hymn,  each  chapter  read,  each 
anthem,  each  prayer,  and  each  sermon  should  have  a 
special  and  appropriate  purpose.  May  the  Lord  help 
me,  after  my  return,  to  profit  by  this> day's  lesson." 

'No  hard  benches,  no  air  of  cold  dreariness  marks 
The  Temple.  The  exterior  is  beautiful  and  graceful  in 
design,  the  interior  cheery  and  homelike  in  furnishing. 

The  building  is  of  hewn  stone,  with  a  frontage  on 
Broad  Street  of  one  hundred  and  seven  feet,  a  depth  on 
Berks  Street  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  a  height  of 
ninety  feet.  On  the  front  is  a  beautiful  half  rose  win- 
dow of  rich  stained  glass,  and  on  the  Berks  Street  side 
a  number  of  smaller  memorial  windows,  each  depicting 
some  beautiful  Biblical  scene  or  thought.  Above  the 
rose  window  on  the  front  is  a  small  iron  balcony  on 
which  on  special  occasions,  and  at  midnight  on  Christ- 


154  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

mas,  ISTew  Year's  Eve  and  Easter,  tlie  churcli  orchestra 
and  choir  play  sacred  melodies  and  sing  hymns,  filling 
the  midnight  hour  with  melody  and  delighting  thou- 
sands who  gather  to  hear  it. 

The  auditorium  of  The  Temple  has  the  largest  seat- 
ing capacity  among  Protestant  church  edifices  in  the 
United  States.  Its  original  seating  capacity  according 
to  the  architect's  plans,  was  forty-two  hundred  opera 
chairs.  But  to  secure  greater  comfort  and  safety  only 
thirtV-one  hundred  and  thirty-five  chairs  were  used. 

Under  the  auditorium  and  below  the  level  of  the 
street  is  the  part  of  the  building  called  the  Lower  Tem- 
ple. Here  are  Sunday  School  rooms,  with  a  seating 
capacity  of  two  thousand.  The  Sunday  School  room 
and  lecture  room  of  the  Lower  Temple  is  forty-eight 
by  one  hundred  and  six  feet  in  dimensions.  It  also  has 
many  beautiful  stained-glass  windows.  On  the  plat- 
form is  a  cabinet  organ  and  a  grand  piano.  Tn  the  rear 
of  the  lecture  room  is  a  dining-room,  forty-five  by  forty- 
six  feet,  with  a  capacity  for  seating  five  hundred  peo- 
ple. Folding  tables  and  hundreds  of  chairs  are  stowed 
away  in  the  store  rooms  when  not  in  use  in  the  great  din- 
ing-room. Opening  out  of  this  room  are  the  rooms  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  the  parlors  and  reading-rooms 
of  the  Young  Men's  Association  and  the  Young  Wo^ 
men's  Association,  and  the  kitchen,  carving-room  and 
cloak-room.  Through  the  kitchen  is  a  passageway  to 
the  engine  and  boiler  rooms.  In  pantries  and  cupboards 
is  an  outfit  of  china  and  table  cutlerj^  sufficient  to  set  a 
table  for  five  hundred  persons.  Tlie  kitchen  is  fully 
equipped,  with  two  large  ranges,  hot-water  cylinders, 
sinks  and  drainage  tanks.     Irf  the  annex  beyond  the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  155 

kitchen,  a  separate  building  contains  the  boilers  and 
engine  room  and  the  electric-light  plants. 

The  steam-heating  of  the  bnilding  is  supplied  by 
four  one  hundred  horse-power  boilers.  In  the  engine 
room  are  two  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  horse-power 
engines,  directly  connected  with  dynamos  having  a  ca- 
pacity of  twenty-five  hundred  lights,  which  are  con- 
trolled by  a  switchboard  in  this  room.  The  electrician 
is  on  duty  every  day,  giving  his  entire  time  to  the  man- 
agement of  this  plant.  The  building  is  also  supplied 
with  gas.  Directly  behind  the  pulpit  is  a  small  closet 
containing,  a  friction  wheel,  by  means  of  which,  should 
the  electric  light  fail  for  any  reason,  every  gas  jet  in 
The  Temple  can  be  lighted  from  dome  to  basement. 

For  cleaning  the  church,  a  vacuum  plant  has  been  in- 
stalled, which  sucks  out  every  particle  of  dust  and  dirt. 
It  does  the  work  quickly  and  thoroughly,  in  fact,  so 
thoroughly  it  is  impossible  even  with  the  hardest  beat- 
ing to  raise  any  dust  on  the  covered  chairs  after  they 
have  been  cleaned  by  this  process.  Such  crowds  throng 
The  Temple  that  some  quick,  thorough  method  of  clean- 
ing it  became  imperative. 

Back  of  the  auditorium  on  the  street  floor  are  the 
business  offices  of  the  church,  Mr.  Conwell's  study,  the 
office  of  his  secretary  and  of  the  associate  pastor.  All 
are  practically  and  cheerfully  furnished,  fitted  with 
desks,  filing  cabinets,  telephones,  speaking  tubes,  every- 
thing to  carry  forward  the  business  of  the  church  in  a 
time-saving,  businesslike  way. 

The  acoustics  of  the  great  auditorium  are  perfect. 
There  is  no  building  on  this  continent  with  an  equal 
capacity  which  enables  the  preacher  to  speak  and  the 
hearers  to  listen  with  such  perfect  comfort.     The  weak- 


156  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

est  voice  is  carried  to  the  farthest  auditor.  Lecturers 
■who  have  tested  the  acoustic  properties  of  halls  in  every 
state  in  the  Union  speak  with  praise  and  pleasure  of  The 
Temple,  which  makes  the  delivery  of  an  oration  to  three 
thousand  people  as  eas^,  so  far  as  vocal  effort  is  con- 
cerned, as  a  parlor  conversation. 

Telephonic  communication  has  recently  been  in- 
stalled between  the  auditorium  and  the  Samaritan  Hos- 
pital. Patients  in  their  beds  can  hear  the  sermons 
preached  from  The  Temple  pulpit  and  the  music  of  the 
Sunday  ser^aees. 

Compared  with  other  assembly  rooms  in  this  coun- 
try, the  auditorium  of  The  Temple  is  a  model.  It  seats 
thirty-one  hundred  and  thirty-five  persons.  The  Ameri- 
can Academy  of  Music,  Philadelphia,  seats  twenty-nine 
hundred ;  the  Academy  of  Music,  Brooklyn,  twenty-four 
hundred  and  thirtjy-three ;  Academy  in  ISTew  York,  twen- 
ty-four hundred  and  thirty-three ;  the  Grand  Opera 
House,  Cincinnati,  twenty-two  hundred  and  fifty;  and 
the  Music  Hall,  Boston,  twenty-five  hundred  and 
eighty-five. 

But  greater  than  the  building  is  the  spirit  that  per- 
vades it.  The  moment  one  enters  the  vast  auditorium 
with  its  crimson  chairs,  its  cheery  carpet,  its  softly 
tinted  walls,  one  feels  at  home.  Light  filters  in  through 
rich  windows,  in  memory  of  some  member  gone  before, 
some  class  or  organization.  Back  of  the  pulpit  stands 
the  organ,  its  rich  pipes  rising  almost  to  the  roof. 
Everywhere  is  rich,  subdued  coloring,  not  ostentatious, 
but  cheery,  homelike. 

Large  as  is  the  seating  capacity  of  The  Temple,  when 
it  was  opened  it  could  not  accommodate  the  crowds  that 
thronged  to  it.     Almost  from  the  first,  overflow  meet- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  157 

ings  were  held  in  the  Lower  Temple,  that  none  need  be 
turned  away  from  the  House  of  God,  From  five  hun- 
dred to  two  thousand  people  crowded  these  Sunday 
evenings  in  addition  to  the  large  audience  in  the  main 
auditorium  above. 

The  Temple  workers  had  come  to  busy  days  and  large 
opportunities.  But  they  took  them  humbly  with  a  full 
sense  of  their  responsibility,  with  prayer  in  their  hearts 
that  they  might  meet  them  worthily.  Their  leader 
knew  the  perils  of  success  and  with  wise  counsel  guided 
them  against  its  insidious  dangers. 

"  Ah,  that  is  a  dangerous  hour  in  the  history  of  men 
and  institutions,"  he  said,  in  a  sermon  on  the  "  Danger 
of  Success,"  "  when  they  become  too  popular ;  when  a 
good  cause  becomes  too  much  admired  or  adored,  so 
that  the  man,  or  the  institution,  or  the  building,  or  the 
organization,  receives  an  idolatrous  worship  from  the 
community.  That  is  always  a  dangerous  time.  Small 
men  always  go  down,  wrecked  by  such  dizzy  elevation. 
Whenever  a  small  man  is  praised,  he  immediately  loses 
his  balance  of  mind  and  ascribes  to  himself  the  things 
which  others  foolishly  express  in  flattery.  He  esteems 
himself  more  than  he  is ;  thinking  himself  to  be  some- 
thing, he  is  consequently  nothing.  How  dangerous  is 
that  point  when  a  man,  or  a  woman,  or  an  enterprise 
has  become  accepted  and  popular!  Then,  of  all  times, 
should  the  man  or  the  society  be  humble.  Then,  of  all 
times,  should  they  beware.  Then,  of  all  times,  the  hosts 
of  Satan  are  marshaled  that  by  every  possible  insidious 
wile  and  open  warfare  they  may  overcome.  The  weak- 
est hour  in  the  history  of  great  enterprises  is  apt  to  be 
when  they  seem  to  be,  and  their  projectors  think  they 
are,  strongest.    Take  heed  lest  ye  fall  in  the  hour  of  your 


158  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

strength.  The  most  powerful  mill  stream  drives  the 
wheel  most  vigorously  at  the  moment  before  the  flood 
sweeps  the  mill  to  wildest  destruction." 

Just  as  plainly  and  unequivocally  did  he  hold  up 
before  them  the  purpose  of  their  high  calling : 

"  The  mission  of  the  church  is  to  save  the  souls  of 
men.  That  is  its  true  mission.  It  is  the  only  mission 
of  the  church.  That  should  be  its  only  thought.  The 
moment  any  church  admits  a  singer  that  does  not  sing 
to  save  souls ;  the  moment  a  church  calls  a  pastor  who 
does  not  preach  to  save  souls ;  the  moment  a  church 
elects  a  deacon  who  does  not  work  to  save  souls;  the 
moment  a  church  gives  a  supper  or  an  entertainment 
of  any  kind  not  for  the  purpose  of  saving  souls  —  it 
ceases  in  so  much  to  be  a  church  and  to  fulfil  the  mag- 
nificent mission  God  gave  it.  Every  concert,  every 
choir  service,  every  preaching  service,  every  Lord's  sup- 
per, every  agency  that  is  used  in  the  church  "must  have 
the  great  mission  plainly  before  its  eye.  We  are  here 
to  save  the  souls  of  dying  sinners ;  we  are  here  for  no 
other  purpose;  and  the  mission  of  the  church  being  so 
clear,  that  is  the  only  test  of  a  real  church." 

The  thousands  of  men  and  women  Grace  Church  has 
saved  and  placed  in  paths  of  righteousness  and  happi- 
ness, show  that  it  has  nobly  stood  the  test,  that  it  has 
proved  itself  a  church  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

HOW  THE  CHURCH  WORKS 

The  Ladies'  Aid  Society.  The  Young  Women's  Association.  The 
Young  Men's  Association.  The  Ushers'  Association.  The 
Christian  Endeavor  Societies.  The  Many  Other  Organizations. 
What  They  Do,  and  How  They  Do  It. 

NOW  that  the  church  was  biTilt,  now  that  such 
power  was  in  its  hands,  how  should  it  work  ? 
"  The  church  of  Christ  should  be  so  con- 
ducted always  as  to  save  the  largest  number  of  souls, 
and  in  the  saving  of  souls  the  Institutional  church  may 
be  of  great  assistance,"  said  Russell  Conwell  in  an 
address  on  "  The  Institutional  Church."  "  It  is  of  little 
matter  what  your  theories  are  or  what  mine  are ;  God, 
in  His  providence,  is  moving  His. church  onward  and 
moving  it  upward  at  the  same  time,  adjusting  it  to  new 
situations,  fitting  it  to  new  conditions  and  to  advancing 
civilization,  requiring  us  to  use  the  new  instrumental- 
ities he  has  placed  in  our  hands  for  the  purpose  of  saving 
the  greatest  number  of  human  souls." 

The  conditions  confronting  him,  the  leader  of  this 
church  studied.  He  turned  his  eyes  backward  over  the 
years.  He  thought  of  his  own  boyhood  when  church 
was  so  distasteful.  He  thought  of  those  ten  busy  years 
in  Boston  when  he  had  worked  among  all  classes  of 
humanity,  with  churches  on  all  sides,  yet  few  reaching 
down  into  the  lives  of  the  people  in  any  vital  way.    He 

159 


160  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

knew  of  the  silent,  agonizing  cry  for  help,  for  comfort, 
for  light,  that  went  up  without  ceasing  day  and  night 
from  humanity  in  sorrow,  in  suffering,  in  affliction, 
went  up  as  it  were  to  skies  of  brass,  yet  he  knew  a  lov- 
ing Savior  stood  ready  to  pour  forth  his  healing  love, 
a  Divine  Spirit  waited  only  the  means,  to  lay  a  healing 
touch  on  sore  hearts.  What  was  needed  was  a  simple, 
practical,  real  way  to  make  it  understandable  to  men, 
to  bring  them  into  the  right  environment,  to  make  their 
hearts  and  minds  receptive,  to  point  the  wa^  to  peace, 
joy  and  eternal  life.  He  brought  to  bear  on  this  prob- 
lem all  the  practical,  trained  skill  of  the  lawyer,  the 
keen  insight  and  common  sense,  the  knowledge  of  the 
world,  of  the  traveler  and  writer.  Every  experience  of 
his  own  life  he  probed  for  help  and  light  on  this  great 
work.  Nothing  was  done  haphazard.  He  studied  the 
wants  of  men.  He  clearly  saw  the  need.  He  calmly- 
surveyed  the  field,  then  he  went  to  work  with  practical 
common  sense  to  fill  it,  filling  his  people  with  the  en- 
thusiasm and  the  faith  that  led  him,  doing  with  a  will 
all  there  was  to  do,  and  then  leaving  the  rest  with  God. 
Never  did  he  think  of  himself,  of  how  he  might  lighten 
his  tasks,  give  himself  a  little  more  leisure  or  rest.  The 
work  needing  to  be  done  and  how  to  do  it  was  his  study 
day  and  night. 

A  reporter  of  the  "  Philadelphia  Press  "  once  asked 
Dr.  George  A.  Peltz,  the  associate  pastor  of  Grace 
Church,  "  if  you  were  called  upon  to  express  in  three 
words  the  secret  of  the  mysterious  power  that  has  raised 
Grace  Church  from  almost  nothing  to  a  membership  of 
more  than  three  thousand,  that  has  built  this  Temple, 
founded  a  college,  opened  a  hospital,  and  set  every  man, 


This  Picture  Shows  the  F'our  Speaking  Tubes  Whicli  Connect  by 
Telephone  with  the  Samaritan  Hospital 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  161 

woman  and  child  in  the  congregation  to  working,  what 
would  be  your  answer  ?  " 

"  Sanctified  common  sense,"  was  the  Doctor's  un- 
hesitating reply. 

Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer,  in  speaking  on  "  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury Evangelism,"  at  Bradford,  England,  in  1902,  made 
a  plea  for  "  the  institutional  church,  the  wide  outlook, 
more  elastic  methods,  greater  eagerness  to  reach  and  win 
outsiders,  more  varied  service  on  the  part  of  Christian 
people,  that  the  minister  of  any  place  of  worship  should 
become  the  recognized  friend  of  the  entire  district  in 
which  his  chapel  is  placed." 

The  "  elastic  method  "  is  characteristic  of  the  work 
of  The  Temple.  ^Vhen  Dr.  Conwell  first  came  to  Grace 
Church,  he  organized  four  societies  —  the  Ladies'  Aid 
Society,  the  Business  Men's  Union,  the  Young  Women's 
Association,  the  Young  Men's  Association.  Into  one  or 
another  of  these,  every  member  of  the  church  fitted,  and 
as  the  new  members  came  into  the  fellowship,  they 
found  work  for  their  hands  in  one  or  the  other. 

The  Ladies'  Aid  Society  is  the  pastor's  right  hand. 
It  stands  ready  to  undertake  any  project,  social,  re- 
ligious, financial,  to  give  receptions  in  honor  of  noted 
visitors,  to  hold  a  series  of  special  meetings,  to  plan 
suppers,  festivals,  and  other  affairs  whenever  it  is  neces- 
sary to  raise  money.  Its  creed,  if  one  might  so  call  it, 
is: 

"  Use  every  opportunity  to  bring  in  new  members. 

"  Remember  the  name  of  every  new  church  member. 

"  Visit  useless  members  and  encourage  them  for  their 
own  sake  to  become. useful. 

"  Visit  persons  when  desired  by  the  Pastors. 


162  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

"  Speak  cheerfully  to  each  person  present  on  every 
opportunity. 

"  Kegard  every  patron  of  your  suppers  or  entertain- 
ments, and  every  visitor  to  your  religious  meetings,  as 
a  guest  calling  on  you  in  your  own  house. 

"  Accept  contributions  and  subscriptions  for  the  vari- 
ous Christian  enterpriser. 

"  Bring  in  every  suggestion  you  hear  "which  is  valu- 
able, new  or  effective  in  Christian  work  elsewhere. 

"  Never  allow  a  meeting  to  pass  without  your  doing 
some  one  practical  thing  for  the  advancement  of  Christ's 
kingdom. 

"  Make  yourself  and  the  Society  of  some  certain  use 
to  some  person,  or  some  cause,  each  week." 

The  Society  helps  in  the  church  prayer  meetings, 
in  refurnishing  and  improving  the  church  property, 
in  celebrating  anniversaries,  in  missionary  enterprises, 
securing  the  insertion  of  tablets  in  the  Temple  walls, 
in  clothing  the  poor,  in  supporting  the  local  missions 
connected  with  the  church,  in  calling  socially  on  church 
members  or  members  of  the  congregation,  in  evange- 
listic meetings,  in  household  prayer  meetings,  in  sup- 
porting reading  rooms,  in  comforting  those  in  special 
affliction,  in  visiting  the  sick,  in  aiding  the  needy,  in 
paying  the  church  debt,  in  maintaining  Mother's  meet- 
ings, in  looking  after  the  domestic  wants  of  the  Temple, 
in  sewing  for  the  Hospitals,  the  Missions,  the  Baptist 
Home,  the  Orphanage,  church  fairs,  Missionary  work- 
ers, the  poor,  in  managing  church  suppers  and  recep- 
tions connected  with  Oi'dinations,  Conventions,  and 
other  religious  gatherings. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  important  organizations  of  the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  163 

cliiircli  and  has  its  own  rooms  handsomely  furnished 
and  well  supplied  with  reading  matter. 

The  Business  Men's  Union  drew  into  a  close  band 
the  business  men  of  the  church  and  used  their  knowledge 
of  business  affairs  to  plan  and  carry  out  various  pro- 
jects for  raising  money  for  the  building  fund.  They 
also  took  a  deep  personal  interest  in  each  other's  wel- 
fare as  is  shown  by  the  following  incident,  taken  from 
the  "  Philadelphia  Press  " : 

"  At  one  time  a  member  became  involved  in  financial 
difficulties  in  a  very  peculiar  way.  Previous  to  con- 
necting himself  with  the  church,  he  had  been  engaged 
in  a  business  which  he  felt  he  could  not  conscientiously 
continue  after  his  conversion.  He  sold  his  interest  and 
entered  upon  mercantile  pursuits  with  which  he  was  un- 
familiar. As  a  result,  he  became  involved  and  his  es- 
tablishment was  in  danger  of  falling  into  the  sheriff's 
hands. 

"  His  situation  became  known  to  some  members  of  the 
Business  Men's  Union,  and  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  look  into  his  affairs.  His  books  were  found  to  be 
straight  and  his  stock  valuable.  The  members  imme- 
diately subscribed  the  thousands  of  dollars  necessary  to 
relieve  him  of  all  embarrassment,  and  the  man  was 
saved." 

After  the  building  was  completed  and  the  imperative 
need  for  such  an  organization  was  past^  the  members 
joined  other  organizations  needing  their  help,  and  it 
disbanded.  It  is  typical  of  the  elastic  methods  of  Grace 
Church  that  no  society  outlives  its  usefulness.  When 
the  need  is  past  for  it  as  a  body,  the  members  look  else- 
where for  work,  and  wherever  each  is  needed,  there  he 
goes  heart  and  soul  to  further  some  other  endeavor. 


164  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

The  Young  Women's  Association  is  composed  of 
yoimg  women  of  the  church.  It  bubbles  over  with 
youthful  enthusiasm  and  energy  and  is  one  of  the 
strongest  agencies  for  carrying  forward  the  church  work. 
Its  creed  is : 

"  Secure  new  members. 

"  Attend  the  meetings,  propose  new  work,  urge  on 
n^lected  duties. 

"  Help  the  prayer  meetings. 

"  Volunteer  for  social  meetings. 

"  Aid  in  the  entertainments. 

"  Originate  plans  for  Christian  benevolent  work. 

"  Welcome  young  women  to  the  Church. 

"  Visit  the  sick  members  of  the  Church. 

"  Seek  after  and  encourage  inquirers. 

"  Hold  household  devotional  meetings. 

"  Sustain  missionary  work  for  young  women. 

"  Make  the  Church  home  cheerful  and  happy. 

"  Arrange  social  home  gatherings  for  various  church 
or  charitable  enterprises. 

"  Solicit  books  or  periodicals  for  the  reading  room  or 
circulating  library. 

"  Secure  employment  for  the  needy.   ■ 

"  Treat  all  visitors  to  the  rooms  as  special  personal 
guests  in  your  home. 

"  Undertake  large  things  for  the  Church  and  Christ 
in  many  ways,  as  may  be  suggested  by  any  new  con- 
ditions and  deeds. 

"  Instruct  in  domestic  arts,  dressmnking,  millinery, 
cooking,  decoration,  and,  through  the  Samaritan  Hos- 
pital, in  the  art  of  nursing. 

"  Furnish  statedly  instructive  entertainments  for  the 
young. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  165 

"  Develop  the  various  singing  services. 

"  Specially  care  for  and  assist  young  sisters. 

"  Cooperate  in  sewing  enterprises  of  all  sorts. 

"  Aid  the  Pastors  by  systematic  visitation. 

"  Push  many  branches  of  City  Missions,  especially 
■with  reference  to  developing  young  women  as  workers. 

"  Maintain  suitable  young  women  as  missionaries  at 
home  or  in  foreign  fields. 

"  Carry  sunshine  to  darkened  hearts  and  homes. 

"  Be  noble,  influential  Christian  women." 

It  has  a  room  of  its  own  in  the  Lower  Temple,  with 
circulating  library,  piano  and  all  the  cheerful  furnish- 
ings of  a  parlor  in  the  home.  To  this  bright  room  comes 
many  a  girl  from  her  dreary  boarding  house  to  spend  the 
evening  in  reading  and  social  chat.  It  has  been  the 
cheery  starting  point  in  many  a  girl's  life  to  a  career  of 
happy  usefulness. 

The  Young  Men's  Association  follows  similar  lines 
and  is  an  equally  important  factor  in  the  church  work. 
It  plans  to : 

"  Help  increase  the  membership  and  efficiency  of  the 
Young  Men's  Bible  Class  and  other  similar  organiza- 
tions. 

"  Persistently  follow  the  meetings  of  these  associa- 
tions and  keep  them  in  the  hands  of  able,  consecrated 
managers  and  officers,  who  will  lead  in  the  best  enter- 
prises of  the  church. 

"  Make  the  reading-room  attractive  and  helpful. 

"  Help  sustain  the  great  Sunday  morning  prayer 
meeting. 

"  Invite  passers-by  to  enter  the  church,  and  welcome 
strangers  who  do  enter. 

"  Advise  seekers  after  God. 


166  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

"  Bring  back  the  wandering. 

"  Organize  relief  committees  to  save  the  lost  young 
men  of  the  city. 

"  Look  after  traveling  business  men  at  hotels,  and 
bring  them  to  The  Temple. 

"  Promote  temperance,  purity,  fraternity  and  spirit- 
ual life. 

"  Initiate  the  most  important  undertakings  of  the 
church. 

"  Surround  themselves  with  strong  young  men,  and 
inaugurate  vigorous,  fresh  plans  and  methods  for  bring- 
ing the  gospel  to  the  young  men  of  to-day  in  store,  shop, 
office,  school,  college,  on  the  streets,  and  elsewhere. 

"  Visit  sick  members,  help  into  lucrative  employment, 
organize  religious  meetings,  make  the  church  life  of 
the  young  bright,  inspiring  and  noble,  plan  for  sociables, 
entertainments  for  closer  acquaintance  and  for  raising 
money  for  Christian  work  and  to  use  their  pens  for 
Christ  among  young  men  whom  they  know,  and  also 
with  strangers." 

It  has  a  delightful  room  in  the  Lower  Temple,  car- 
peted, supplied  with  books,  good  light,  a  piano,  comfort- 
able chairs.  It  is  a  real  home  for  young  men  alone  in 
the  city  or  without  family  or  home  ties. 

During  the  building  of  The  Temple  many  associations 
were  formed  which,  when  the  need  was  over,  merged 
into  others.     As  Burdette  says: 

"  Often  a  working  guild  of  some  sort  is  brought  into 
existence  for  a  specific  but  transient  purpose;  the  object 
accomplished,  the  work  completed,  the  society  disbands, 
or  merges  into  some  other  organization,  or  reorganizes 
under  a  new  name  for  some  new  work.  The  work  of 
Grace  Church  is  like  the  operations  of  a  great  army; 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  167 

recruits  are  coming  to  the  front  constantly;  regiments 
being  assigned  to  this  corps,  and  suddenly  withdrawn 
to  reinforce  that  one ;  two  oi-  three  commands  consoli- 
dated for  a  sudden  emergency;  one  regiment  deployed 
along  a  great  line  of  small  posts ;  infantry  detailed  into 
the  batteries,  cavalry  dismounted  for  light  infantiy  serv- 
ice, yet  all  the  time  in  all  this  apparent  confusion  and 
restless  change  which  bewilders  the  civilian,  everything 
is  clear  and  plain  and  perfectly  regular  and  methodical  to 
the  commanding  general  and  his  subordinates," 

Another  association  of  this  kind  was  the  "  Commit- 
tee of  One  Hundred,"  organized  in  1891.  The  sugges- 
tion for  its  organization  came  from  the  Young  Women's 
Association.  A  number  of  them  went  to  the  Trustees 
and  proposed  that  the  Board  should  appoint  a  commit- 
tee of  fifty  from  among  the  congregation  to  devise  wa^s 
and  means  to  raise  money  for  paying  off  the  floating 
indebtedness  of  the  church.  The  suggestion  was  adopt- 
ed. The  Committee  of  Fifty  was  appointed,  each  or- 
ganization of  the  church  being  represented  in  it  by  one 
or  more  members.  It  met  for  organization  in  1892. 
The  Young  Women's  Association  pledged  itself  to  raise 
$1,000  during  the  year.  Other  societies  pledged  cer- 
tain sums.  Individuals  went  to  work  to  swell  the 
amount,  and  in  one  year,  the  Committee  reported  that 
the  floating  debt  of  the  church,  which  at  the  time  of 
the  Committee's  organization  was  $25,000,  was  paid. 
Encouraged  by  this  success  the  Committee  enlarged  it- 
self to  one  hundred  and  vigorously  attacked  the  work 
of  paying  off  the  mortgage  of  $15,200  on  the  gi-ound  on 
which  the  college  was  to  be  built. 

Among  the  minor  associations  of  the  church  that  pro- 
moted good  fellowship  and  did  a  definite  good  work  in 


168  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

their  time  were  the  "  Tourists'  Club,"  a  social  develop- 
ment of  the  Young  Women's  Association.  The  mem- 
bers took  an  ideal  European  trip  while  sitting  in  the 
pleasant  reading  room  in  the  Lower  Temple.  A  route 
of  travel  was  laid  out  a  month  in  advance.  Each  mem- 
ber present  took  some  part;  to  one  was  assigned  the 
principal  buildings ;  to  another,  some  famous  painting ; 
to  others,  parks,  hotels,  places  of  amusement,  ruins,  etc., 
until  at  the  close  of  the  evening  they  almost  could  hear 
the  tongue  of  the  strange  land  through  which  in  fancy 
they  had  journeyed.  Maps  and  pictures  helped  to  ma- 
terialize the  journey. 

The  "  Girls "  Auxiliary  was  formed  to  meet  the 
needs  of  the  younger  members  of  the  church.  Any  girl 
under  sixteen  could  become  a  member  by  the  payment 
of  monthly  dues  of  five  cents.  There  were  classes  in 
embroidery,  elocution,  sewing,  etc. 

The  "  Youth's  Culture  League  "  was  organized  for 
the  work  among  youth  of  the  slums ;  an  effort  to  supple- 
ment public  school  education,  making  it  a  stepping- 
stone  to  higher  culture  and  better  living. 

Sports  of  various  kinds  of  course  received  attention. 
The  Temple  Guard,  the  Temple  Cyclers,  the  Baseball 
League  gave  opportunity  for  all  to  enjoy  some  form 
of  healthy  outdoor  sport.  But  since  the  college  and  its 
gymnasium  have  become  so  prominent,  those  who  now 
join  such  organizations  usually  do  it  through  college 
in'^tead  of  church  doors. 

The  following  incident  from  the  "  Philadelphia 
Evening  Bulletin  "  is  typical  of  the  help  these  organiza- 
tions often  gave  the  church  in  its  religious  work : 

"  Eight  and  a  half  years  ago  the  Rev.  Russell  H. 
Conwell  surprised  a  great  many  people  by  organizing  a 


THE  OBSERVATORY 

Built  on  the  Site  of  the  Old  Hemlock  Tree 


THE  PRESENT  CONWEEE  HOMESTEAD  IN  MASSACHUSETTS 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  169 

military  company  among  his  little  boys.  The  old  wise- 
acres shook  their  heads,  and  the  elders  of  the  old  school 
wondered  at  this  new  departure  in  church  work.  Then 
again  he  fairly  shocked  them  by  making  the  organiza- 
tion non-sectarian,  and  securing  one  of  the  best  tacti- 
cians in  the  city  to  instruct  the  boys  in  military  science. 
From  tlie  first  the  company  has  clearly  demon- 
strated that  it  is  the  best-drilled  military  organization 
in  the  city,  and  the  number  of  prizes  fairly  won  demon- 
strates this.  However,  the  company  does  not  wish  to 
be  understood  as  being  merely  in  existence  for  prize 
honors,  although  it  cannot  be  overlooked  that  twenty 
victories  over  as  many  companies  afford  them  the  best 
record  in  Pennsylvania. 

"  In  1896,  the  Samaritan  Hescue  Mission  was  estab- 
lished by  the  Grace  Baptist  Church,  and  proving  a  great 
financial  burden.  Dr.  Conwell  offered  to  give -'a  lecture 
on  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  The  Guard  took  the  matter 
up,  brought  Mrs.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  despite  her 
threescore  years  and  ten,  to  Philadelphia  for  the  first 
time  in  her  life,  and  so  great  was  the  desire  of  the 
church-loving  public  of  this  city  to  attend  that  the  mis- 
sion did  not  perish." 

When  the  stress  of  building  and  paying  the  church 
debt  was  passed,  many  of  these  societies  went  heart 
and  soul  into  the  Christian  Endeavor  work.  Indeed, 
for  awhile  it  seemed  as  if  the  Christian  Endeavor  would 
absorb  all  the  church  associations.  There  are  at  pres- 
ent fifteen  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  in  the  church. 
In  addition  to  the  Christian  Endeavor  pledge,  the  fol- 
lowing special  ways  in  which  they  can  forward  the 
church  work  is  ever  held  before  each  member: 

"  Eor  the  sake  of  your  character  and  future  success, 


170  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELE 

as  well  as  for  tiie  supreme  cause,  keep  your  pledge  un- 
flinchingly. 

"  Endeavor  persistently,  but  courteously,  to  seek  after 
those  who  ask  for  our  prayers  and  advice  at  any  meet- 
ing. 

"  !N^ever  discontinue  your  endeavors  to  get  new  mem- 
bers for  the  societies.  Follow  it  continually  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord. 

"  Endeavor  each  day  to  think,  speak,  act  and  pray 
like  the  Savior. 

"  Endeavor  and  present  plans  for  effective  work. 
Build  up  a  standard  of  noble  living  in  the  Church. 

"  Send  comforting  messages  to  members  of  the  Church 
in  sorrow,  send  flowers  to  the  sick,  or  for  the  funeral, 
look  after  the  orphans,  visit  the  widows  and  the  father- 
less, write  letters  of  advice,  invitation,  condolence,  es- 
tablish nfissions  for  new  churches  in  growing  parts  of 
the  city,  and  hold  by  kindness  at  least  one  thousand  per- 
sonal friends  at  The  Baptist  Temple. 

"  Select  one  leading  duty,  and  follow  it  without  wait- 
ing to  be  asked. 

"  Make  yourself  a  master  of  some  special  line  of 
Christian  effort. 

"  Save  some  one ! 

Five  of  these  societies  some  years  ago  started  a  mis- 
sion at  Logan,  a  suburb  of  Philadelphia,  and  so  suc- 
cessful was  their  work  that  the  mission  soon  grew  into 
a  flourishing  church. 

The  Ushers'  Association  is  one  of  the  strongest  and 
most  helpful  organizations  in  furthering  the  church 
work.  The  ushers  number  twenty-four,  and  are  banded 
together  in  a  businesslike  association  for  mutual  pleas- 
ure and  good  fellowship,   and  also  to  better  conduct 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  171 

their  work  and  the  church  interests  they  have  in  hand. 
They  are  under  the  leadership  of  a  chief  usher  who  is 
president  of  the  Association.  The  spirit  of  hospitality 
that  pervades  The  Temple  finds  its  happiest  expression 
in  the  courteous  welcome  and  ready  attention  accorded 
visitors  by  the  ushers. 

All  members  of  the  church  who  are  willing  to  give  up 
their  seats  to  strangers  on  special  occasions  send  their 
names  to  the  chief  usher.  And  it  is  no  unusual  thing 
to  see  a  member  cheerfully  relinquish  his  seat  after  a 
whispered  consultation  with  an  usher  in  favor  of  some 
stranger  who  is  standing. 

In  addition  to  their  work  in  seating  the  crowd  that 
throng  to  The  Temple  either  for  Sunday  services  or  the 
many  entertainments  that  fill  the  church  during  the 
week,  the  Ushers'  Association  itself  during  the  winter 
gives  a  series  of  fine  entertainments.  Its  object  is  to 
offer  amusement  of  the  very  highest  class,  so  that  people 
will  come  to  the  church  rather  than  go  elsewhere  in 
their  leisure  hours  and  thus  be  surrounded  by  influences 
of  the  best  character  and  by  an  atmosphere  that  is  ele- 
vating and  refining.  They  have  also  undertaken  to  pay 
off  the  balance  of  the  church  debt. 

Missionary  interests  at  Grace  Church  are  well  looked 
after.  The  church  has  educated  and  supported  a  num- 
ber of  missionaries  in  home  and  foreign  fields,  as  well 
as  contributed  money  and  clothing  to  the  cause.  The 
Missionary  Circle  combines  in  one  organization  all  those 
interested  in  missionary  work.  One  afternoon  a  month 
the  members  meet  in  the  Lower  Temple  to  sew,  have 
supper  together,  and  afterward  hold  religious  services. 
The  members  are  advised  in  the  church  hand-book  to  — 

"  Suggest  plans  for  raising  money ;  arrange  for  a  se- 


172  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

ries  of  addresses ;  organize  children's  societies ;  distrib- 
ute missionary  literature ;  maintain  a  circulating  library 
of  missionary  }xK>ks;  correspond  with  missionaries;  so- 
licit and  work  for  the  '  missionary  barrels ' ;  send  out 
'  comfort  bags  ' ;  advocate  missions  in  the  prayer  meet- 
ings and  socials ;  encourage  those  memljers  who  are 
preparing  for  or  are  going  into  foreign  fields,  and  main- 
tain special  missionary  prayer  meetings." 

Members  of  the  church  havo  started  several  missions, 
some  of  which  havo  already  grown  into  flourishing 
churches.  The  Logan  Baptist  Church  and  the  Tioga 
B'aplist  Church,  are  both  daughters  of  The  Temple.. 

The  Samaritan  Aid  Society  sews  and  secures  con- 
tributions of  clothing  and  such  supplies  for  the  Samari- 
tan Hospital.  Other  charities,  however,  needing  such 
help,  find  it  ever  willing  to  lend  its  aid.  It  is  ready  for 
any  emergency  that  may  arise.  A  hurry  call  was  sent 
once  for  sheets,  pillow  cases  and  garments  for  the  sick 
at  Samaritan  Hospital.  The  President  of  tlie  Society 
quickly  summoned  the  members.  Merchants  were  vis- 
ited and  contributions  of  muslin  and  thread  secured. 
Sewing  machines  were  sent  to  the  T>(nver  Temple.  An 
all-day  sewing  bee  was  held,  those  who  could,  came  all 
day,  others  dropped  in  as  time  permitted,  and  by  sim- 
set  more  than  three  hundred  pieces  of  work  were  fin- 
ished. 

Two  other  organizations  very  helpful  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church  are  the  Men's  Beneficial  Association 
and  the  Women's  Beneficial  Association.  They  are 
purely  for  the  benefit  of  church  members  during  sickness 
or  bereavement,  and  are  managed  as  all  such  associa- 
tions are,  paying  $5.00  a  week-during  sickness  and  $100 
at  death. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  173 

The  books  are  closed  at  the  end  of  each  year  and  the 
fund  started  afresh. 

The  Temple  Building  and  Loan  Association  was  or- 
ganized by  the  membership  of  the  Business  Men's  Asso- 
ciation, and  is  officered  by  prominent  members  of  the 
church.  But  it  is  not  in  any  way  a  church  organization 
and  is  not  under  the  management  of  the  church.  It  is 
very  successful  and  its  stockholders  are  composed  largely 
of  church  members. 

To  keep  members  and  friends  in  touch  with  the  many 
lines  of  activity  in  which  the  church  works,  a  magazine, 
"  The  Temple  Review,"  is  published.  It  is  a  private 
business  enterprise,  but  it  chronicles  church  work  and 
publishes  each  week  Dr.  Conwell's  sei*mons.  Many  liv- 
ing at  a  distance  who  cannot  come  often  to  The  Temple 
find  it  most  enjoyable  and  helpful  to  thus  obtain  their 
pastor's  sermons,  and  to  look  through  the  printed  page 
into  the  busy  life  of  the  church  itself.  It  helps  members 
in  some  one  branch  of  the  church  work  to  keep  in  touch 
with  what  others  are  doing.  The  work  of  the  college 
and  hospital  from  week  to  week  is  also  chronicled,  so 
that  it  is  a  very  good  mirror  of  the  many  activities  of 
the  Grace  Church  membership. 

Thus  in  good  fellowship  the  church  works  unitedly  to 
further  Christ's  kingdom.  !N"ew  organizations  are 
formed  as  some  enthusiastic  member  discerns  a  new 
need  or  a  new  field.  It  is  a  veritable  hive  of  industry 
whose  doors  are  never  closed  day  or  night. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

FAIRS  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS 

The  Temple  Fairs.  How  They  are  Planned.  Their  Religious  Aim. 
Appointment  of  Committees.  How  the  Committees  Work. 
The  Church  Entertainments.     Their  Character. 

NOT  only  does  the  cliurcli  work  in  a  hundred 
ways  through  its  regular  organizations  to  ad- 
vance the  spiritual  life  of  its  members  and  the 
community,  but  once  every  year,  organization  fences  are 
taken  down  and  as  a  whole  and  united  body,  it  marches 
forward  to  a  great  fair.  The  Temple  fairs  are  famous. 
They  form  an  important  feature  of  church- life,  and  an 
important  date  in  the  church  calendar. 

"  The  true  object  of  a  church  fair  should  be  to 
strengthen  the  church,  to  propagate  the  Gospel,  and  to 
bring  the  world  nearer  to  its  God."  That  is  Dr.  Con- 
well's  idea  of  the  purpose  of  a  church  fair  and  the  basic 
principle  on  which  The  Temple  fairs  are  built.  They 
always  open  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  the  anniversary  of 
Dr.  Conwell's  coming  to  the  church  and  continue  for 
ten  days  or  two  weeks  thereafter.  These  fairs  are  most 
carefully  planned.  The  membership,  of  course,  know 
that  a  fair  is  to  be  held ;  but  before  any  definite  in- 
formation of  the  special  fair  coming,  is  given  them,  a 
strong  foundation  of  systematic,  careful  preparation  is 
laid.  In  the  early  summer,  before  Dr.  Conwell  leaves 
for  his  two  months'  rest  at  his  old  home  in  the  Berk- 

174 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  175 

shires,  lie  and  the  deaconess  of  the  chnrch  go  over  the 
ground,  decide  on  the  executive  committee  and  call  it 
together.  Officers  are  elected,  Dr.  Conwell  always  be- 
ing appointed  president  and  the  deaconess,  as  a  rule, 
secretary.  The  whole  church  membership  is  then  care- 
fully studied,  and  every  member  put  at  work  upon 
some  committee,  a  chairman  for  the  committee  being 
appointed  at  the  same  time.  A  notice  of  their  appoint- 
ment, the  list  of  their  fellow  workers,  and  a  letter  from 
the  pastor  relative  to  the  fair  are  then  sent  to  each. 
Usually  these  lists  are  prepared  and  forwarded  from 
Dr.  Conwell's  summer  home.  The  chief  purpose  of 
the  fair,  that  of  saving  souls,  is  ever  kept  in  view.  The 
pastor  in  his  letter  to  each  member  always  lays  special 
stress  on  it.     Quoting  from  one  such  letter,  he  says: 

"  The  religious  purpose  is  to  consolidate  our  church 
by  a  more  extensive  and  intimate  acquaintance  with 
each  other,  and  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  social  influence 
over  those  who  have  not  accepted  Christ. 

"  This  enterprise  being  undertaken  for  the  service 
of  Christ,  each  church  member  is  urged  to  enter  it  with 
earnest  prayer,  and  to  use  every  opportunity  to  direct 
the  attention  of  workers  and  visitors  to  spiritual  things. 

"  Each  committee  should  have  its  prayer  circle  or  a 
special  season  set  apart  for  devotional  services.  This 
carnival  being  undertaken  for  the  spiritual  good  of  the 
church,  intimate  friends  and  those  who  have  hitherto 
worked  together  are  especially  requested  to  separate  on 
this  occasion  and  work  with  new  members,  forming  a 
new  circle  of  acquaintances. 

"  Do  not  seek  for  a  different  place  unless  it  is  clear 
that  you  can  do  mucli  more  in  another  position,  for 


176  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

they  honor  God  most  who  take  up  His  work  right  where 
they  are  and  do  faithfully  the  duty  nearest  to  them. 

"  Your  pastor  prays  earnestly  that  this  season  of 
work,  offering,  and  pleasure  may  be  used  by  the  Lord 
to  help  humanity  and  add  to  the  glory  of  His  Kingdom 
on  earth." 

This  is  the  tenor  of  the  letters  sent  each  year.  This 
is  the  purpose  held  ever  before  the  workers. 

Each  committee  is  urged  to  meet  as  soon  as  possible, 
and,  as  a  rule,  the  chairman  calls  a  meeting  within 
a  week  after  the  receipt  of  the  list.  Each  committee 
upon  meeting  elects  a  president,  vice-president,  secre- 
tary and  treasurer,  which,  together  Avith  the  original  ex- 
ecutive committee,  form  the  executive  committee  of  the 
fair. 

During  the  summer  and  fall,  until  the  opening  of  the 
fair,  these  various  committees  work  to  secure  contribu- 
tions or  whatever  may  be  needed  for  the  special  work 
they  have  been  appointed  to  do.  If  they  need  costumes, 
or  expensive  decorations  for  the  booths,  they  give  enter- 
tainments to  raise  the  money.  All  this  depends  upon 
the  character  of  the  fair  in  general.  Sometimes  it  is 
a  fair  in  the  accepted  sense  of  the  word,  devoted  to  the 
selling  of  such  goods  as  interested  friends  and  well- 
wishers  have  contributed.  At  other  times  it  takes  on 
special  significance.  At  one  fair  each  committee  repre- 
sented a  country,  the  members  dressed  in  the  costume 
of  its  people,  the  booth  so  far  as  possible  was  typical 
of  a  home,  or  some  special  building.  Such  products  of 
the  country  as  could  be  obtained  were  among  the  ar- 
ticles sold  or  exhibited. 

Every  committee  meeting  is  opened  with  prayer,  and 
ench  night  during  the  fair  a  prayer  meeting  is  held.     In 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  177 

addition,  a  committee  is  appointed  to  look  after  tlie 
tlirong  of  strangers  visiting  the  fair,  and  whenever  pos- 
sible, to  get  them  to  register  in  a  book  kept  especially 
for  that  purpose  at  the  entrance.  To  all  those  who  sign 
the  register,  a  ISTew  Year's  greeting  is  sent  as  a  little 
token  of  recognition  and  appreciation  of  their  help. 

Much  of  the  great  tide  of  membership  that  flows  into 
the  church  comes  through  the  doors  of  these  church 
fairs.  The  fairs  are  really  revival  seasons.  They  are 
practical  illustrations  of  how  a  working  church  prays, 
and  a  praying  church  works.  Christianity  has  on  its 
working  clothes.  But  it  is  Christianity  none  the  less, 
outspoken  in  its  faith,  fearless  in  its  testimony,  full  of 
the  love  that  desires  to  help  every  man  and  woman  to  a 
higher,  happier  life. 

The  church  entertainments  form  another  important 
feature  of  church  life.  Indeed,  from  the  first  of  Sep- 
tember until  summer  is  well  started,  few  weekday  nights 
pass  but  that  some  religious  service  or  some  entertain- 
ment is  taking  place  in  The  Temple.  In  the  height  of  the 
season,  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  two  or  three  to  be 
given  in  various  halls  of  The  Temple  on  one  evening. 
An  out-of-town  man  attending  a  lecture  at  the  Lower 
Temple,  and  seeing  the  throngs  of  people  pouring  in  at 
various  entrances,  asked  the  custodian  of  the  door  if 
there  were  a  rear  entrance  to  the  auditorium. 

"  Here's  where  you  go  in  for  the  lecture,"  was  the 
reply.  "  There  are  two  other  entertainments  on  hand 
this  evening  in  the  halls  of  the  Lower  Temple.  That's 
where  those  people  are  going." 

In  regard  to  church  fairs  and  entertainments,  Dr. 
Con  well  said  in  a  sermon  in  1893 : 

"  The  Lord  pity  any  church  that  has  not  enough  of 

12 


178  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONV/ELL 

the  spirit  of  Christ  in  it  to  stand  a  church  fair,  -wherein 
devout  offerings  are  brought  to  the  tithing-house  in  the 
spirit  of  true  devotion;  the  Lord  pity  any  church  that 
has  not  enough  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus  in  it  to  endure  or 
enjoy  a  pure  entertainment.  Indeed,  they  are  subjects 
for  prayer  if  they  cannot,  without  quarrels,  without 
fightings,  without  defeat  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  engage 
in  the  pure  and  innocent  things  God  offers  to  His  chil- 
dren." 

And  in  an  address  on  "  The  Institutional  Church,"  he 
says: 

"  The  Institutional  church  of  the  future  will  have  the 
best  regular  lecture  courses  of  the  highest  order.  There 
will  be  about  them  sufficient  entertainment  to  hold  the 
audience,  while  at  the  same  time  they  give  positive  in- 
struction and  spiritual  elevation.  Every  church  of 
Christ  is  so  sacred  that  it  ought  to  have  within  its  walls 
anything  that  helps  to  save  souls.  If  an  entertainment 
is  put  into  a  church  for  any  secular  purpose  —  simply 
to  make  money  — ■  that  church  will  be  divided  ;  it  will 
be  meshed  in  quarrels,  and  souls  will  not  be  saved  there. 
There  must  be  a  higher  end ;  as  between  the  church  and 
the  world  we  must  use  everything  that  will  save  and 
reject  everything  that  will  injure.  This  requires  care- . 
ful  and  close  attention.  You  must  keep  in  mind  the 
question,  *  Will  Jesus  come  here  and  save  souls  ? '  Care- 
fully eliminate  all  that  will  show  irreverence  for  holy 
things  or  disrespect  for  the  church.  Carefully  intro- 
duce wherever  you  can  the  direct  teachings  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  then  your  entertainments  will  be  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation.  The  entertainments  of  the  church 
need  to  be  carefully  guarded,  and,  if  they  are,  then  will 
the  church  of  the  future  control  the  entertainments  of 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  179 

the  world.  The  theatre  that  has  its  displays  of  low  and 
vulgar  amusement  will  not  pay,  because  the  churches 
will  hold  the  best  classes,  and  for  a  divine  and  humane 
purpose  will  conduct  the  best  entertainments.  There 
will  be  a  double  inducement  that  will  draw  all  classes. 
The  Institutional  church  of  the  future  will  be  free  to 
use  any  reasonable  means  to  influence  men  for  good." 

The  Temple,  as  can  be  seen,  believes  in  good,  pure, 
elevating  amusements.  But  every  entertainment  to  be 
given  is  carefully  considered.  In  such  a  vast  body  of 
workers,  many  of  them  young  and  inexperienced,  this 
is  necessary.  By  a  vote  of  the  church,  every  pro- 
gramme to  be  used  in  any  entertainment  in  The  Temple 
must  first  be  submitted  to  the  Board  of  Deacons. 
What  they  disapprove  cannot  be  presented  to  the  congre- 
gation of  Grace  Church  under  any  circumstance. 

The  concerts  and  oratorios  of  the  chorus  are  of  the 
very  highest  order  and  attract  music  lovers  from  all 
parts  of  the  city  and  nearby  towns.  The  other  enter- 
tainments in  the  course  of  a  year  cover  such  a  variety 
of  subjects  that  every  one  is  sure  to  find  something  to 
his  liking.     Among  the  lectures  given  in  one  year  were : 

"  Changes  and  Chances,"  by  Dr.  George  C.  Lorimer. 

"  The  Greek  Church,"  by  Charles  Emory  Smith. 

"  Ancient  Greece,"  by  Professor  Leotsakos,  of  the 
ITniversity  of  Athens. 

An  illustrated  lecture  on  the  Yellowstone  Park,  by 
Professor  George  L.  Maris. 

"  Work  or  How  to  G^t  a  Living,"  by  Hon.  Roswell 
G.  Horr. 

"  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde,"  by  Eev.  Robert  N'ourse, 
D.D. 

"  Backbone,"  by  Rev.  Thomas  Dixon. 


180  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

The  other  entertainments  that  season  included  selec- 
tions from  "  David  Copperfield,"  by  Leland  T.  Powers ; 
readings  b^  Fred  Emerson  Brooks,  concerts  by  the 
Gei-mania  Orchestra,  the  Mendelssohn  Quintette  Club 
of  Boston  and  the  Ringgold  Band  of  Reading,  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  a  "  Greek  Festival,"  tableaux,  by  students  of 
Temple  College ;  "  Tableaux  of  East  Indian  Life,"  con- 
ducted by  a  returned  missionary,  Mrs.  David  Downie; 
"  Art  Entertainment,"  by  the  Young  Women's  Associa- 
tion ;  concert  by  the  New  York  Philharmonic  Club ;  and 
many  entertainments  by  societies  of  the  younger  people, 
music,  recitations,  readings,  debates,  suppers,  excur- 
sions, public  debates,  class  socials.  The  year  seems  to 
have  been  full  of  entertainments,  teas,  anniversaries, 
athletic  meetings,  "  cycle  runs,"  gymnasium  exhibitions, 
"  welcomes,"  "  farewells,"  jubilees,  "  feasts."  But  every 
year  is  the  same. 

A  single  society  of  the  church  gave  during. one  winter 
a  series  of  entertainments  which  included  four  lectures 
by  men  prominent  in  special  fields  of  work,  four  con- 
certs by  companies  of  national  reputation,  and  an  in- 
tensely interesting  evening  with  moving  pictures. 

"  We  are  often  criticised  as  a  church,"  said  Mr.  Con- 
well,  in  an  address,  "  by  persons  who  do  not  understand 
the  purposes  or  spirit  of  our  work.  They  say,  '  You 
have  a  great  many  entertainments  and  socials,  and  the 
church  is  in  danger  of  going  over  to  the  world.'  Ah, 
yes ;  the  old  hermits  went  away  and  hid  themselves  in 
the  rocks  and  caves  and  lived  on  the  scantiest  food,  and 
*  kept  away  from  the  world.'  They  were  separate  from 
the  world.  TheV  were  in  no  danger  of  '  going  over  to 
the  world.'  They  had  hidden  themselves  far  away  from 
man.     And  so  it  is  in  some  churches  where  in  coldness 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  181 

and  forgetfulness  of  Christ's  purpose,  of  Christ's  sacri- 
fice, and  the  purpose  for  which  the  church  was  insti- 
tuted, they  withdraw  themselves  so  far  from  the  world 
that  they  cannot  save  a  drowning  man  when  he  is  in 
sight  —  they  (?annot  reach  down  to  him,  the  distance 
is  too  great  —  the  life  line  is  too  short.  Where  are  the 
unchurched  masses  of  Philadelphia  to-day  ?  Why  are 
they  not  in  the  churches  at  this  hour?  Because  the 
church  is  so  far  away.  The  difference  that  is  found 
between  the  church  which  saves  and  that  which  does 
not  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  latter  holds  to  the 
Pharisaical  profession  that  the  church  must  keep  itself 
aloof  from  the  people  —  yes,  from  the  drowning  thou- 
sands who  are  going  down  to  everlasting  ruin  —  to  be 
forever  lost.  The  danger  is  not  now  so  much  in  going 
over  to  the  world  as  in  going  away  from  it  —  away  from 
the  world  which  Jesus  died  to  save  —  the  world  which 
the  church  should  lead  to  Him." 

In  all  these  entertainments,  the  true  mission  of  the 
church  is  never  forgotten  —  that  mission  which  its  pas- 
tor so  earnestly  and  often  says  is  "  not  to  entertain 
people.  The  church's  only  thought  should  be  to  turn 
the  hearts  of  men  to  God." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  BUSINESS  SIDE 

How  the  Finances  are  Managed.     The  Work  of  the  Deacons.     The 
Duties  of  the  Trustees. 

^^r  I IHE  plain  facts  of  life  must  be  recognized,"  says 
J  1^  Dr.  Conwell.  The  business  affaire  of  Grace 
Baptist  Church  are  plain  facts  and  big  ones. 
There  is  no  evading  them.  The  membership  is  more 
than  three  thousand.  A  constant  stream  of  money  from 
the  rental  of  seats,  from  voluntary  offerings,  from 
entertainments,  is  pouring  in,  and  as  quickly  going  out 
for  expenses  and  charitable  purposes.  It  piust  all  be 
looked  after.  A  record  of  the  membership  must  be 
kept,  changes  of  address  made  —  and  this  is  no  light 
matter  —  the  members  themselves  kept  in  touch  with. 
It  all  means  work  of  a  practical  business  nature  and  to 
get  the  best  results  at  least  expenditure  of  time  and 
money,  it  must  all  be  done  in  skilled,  experienced  fash- 
ion. Dr.  Conwell,  in  speaking  of  the  careful  way  in 
which  the  business  affairs  of  the  church  are  conducted, 
says: 

"  What  has  contributed  most  as  the  means  used  of 
God  to  bring  Grace  Church  up  to  its  efficiency  ?  I  an- 
swer it  was  the  inspired,  sanctified,  common  sense  of 
enterprising,  careful  business  men.  The  disciplined 
judgment,  the  knowledge  of  men,  the  forethought  and 

skill  of  these  workers  who  were  educated  at  the  school 

182 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  183 

of  practical  business  life,  helped  most.  Tlie  Trustees 
and  working-  committees  in  all  our  undertakings,  wlieth- 
er  for  Church,  Hospital,  College,  or  Missions,  have  been, 
providentially,  men  of  thorough  business  training,  who 
used  their  experience  and  skill  for  the  church  with  even 
greater  care  and  perseverance  than  they  would  have  done 
in  their  own  affairs. 

"  When  they  wanted  lumber,  they  kneAV  where  to 
purchase  it,  and  how  to  obtain  discounts.  When  they 
needed  money,  they  knew  where  the  money  was,  and 
what  securities  were  good  in  the  market.  They  saved 
by  discounting  their  own  bills,  and  kindly  insisted  that 
contractors  and  laborers  should  earn  fairly  the  money 
they  received.  They  foresaw  the  financial  needs  and 
always  insisted  on  securing  the  money  in  full  time  to 
meet  demands. 

"  Some  men  make  religion  so  dreamy,  so  unreal,  so 
unnatural,  that  the  more  they  believe  in  it  the  less  prac- 
tical they  become.  They  expect  ravens  to  feed  them, 
the  cruse  of  oil  to  be  inexhaustible,  and  the  fish  to  come 
to  the  right  side  of  the  ship  at  breakfast  time.  They 
trust  in  God  and  loaf  about.  "  They  would  conduct 
mundane  affairs  as  though  men  were  angels  and  church 
business  a  series  of  miracles.  But  the  successful  church 
worker  is  one  who  recognizes  the  plain  facts  of  life,  and 
their  relation  to  heavenly  things ;  who  is  neither  profane 
nor  crazy,  who  feels  that  his  experience  and  judgment 
are  gifts  of  God  to  be  used,  but  who  also  fully  realizes 
that,  after  all,  unless  God  lives  in  the  house,  they  labor 
in  vain  who  build  it. 

"  N'one  of  our  successful  managers  have  been  flowery 
orators,  nor  have  they  been  in  the  habit  of  wearying  man 
and  the  Lord  with  long  prayers.     If  they  speak,  they 


184  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

are  earnest  and  conservative.  They  are  men  -whom  the 
banks  would  trust,  whose  recommendations  are  valuable, 
who  know  a  counterfeit  dollar  or  a  worthless  endorse- 
ment. They  read  men  at  a  glance,  being  trained  in 
actual  experience  with  all  classes.  They  have  been  the 
pillars  of  the  church.  While  some  have  been  praying 
with  religious  phraseology  that  the  stray  calf  might  be 
sent  home,  these  men  have  gone  after  him  and  brought 
him  back.  They  have  faithfully  done  their  part,  and 
God  has  answered  their  earnest  prayers  for  the  rest." 

Dr.  Peltz,  for  many  years  associate  pastor  of  The 
Temple,  in  speaking  of  the  business  management  of  the 
affairs  of  the  church,  says : 

"  Many  persons  imagine  that  the  financial  organiza- 
tion of  Grace  Baptist  Church  must  be  something  out  of 
the  usual  way,  because  the  results  have  been  so  unusual. 
There  is  nothing  peculiar  in  the  general  plan  of  finan- 
cial procedure,  but  gTeat  pains  are  taken  to  work  the 
plan  for  all  it  is  worth.  Special  pains  have  been  taken 
to  secure  consecrated  and  competent  men  for  the  Board 
of  Trustees.  And  the  Trustees  do  this  one  thing,  a 
rule  of  the  church  permitting  a  man  to  hold  but  one 
elective  office.  Competent  financiers,  consecrated  to 
this  work,  and  doing  it  as  carefully  as  they  would  do 
their  own  business,  is  the  statement  that  tells  the  whole 
story." 

All  these  business  matters  are  in  the  hands  of  the 
deacons  and  Trustees,  the  deacons,  if  any  distinction 
in  the  work  can  be  made,  looking  after  the  member- 
ship, the  Board  of  Trustees  attending  to  the  financial 
matters. 

After  a  person  has  signified  his  intention  to  join  the 
church,  he  meets  the  deacons,  who  explain  to  him  the 


Photo  by  (lu/ekunst 

PROFESSOR  DAVID  D.   WOOD 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  185 

system  by  which  members  contribute  to  the  support  of 
the  church.  If  he  desires  to  contribute  by  taking  a  sit- 
ting, he  is  assigned  a  seat  according  to  the  amoimt  he 
wishes  to  pay,  or  he  can  pay  the  regular  church  dues, 
$1.20  a  year  for  those  under  eighteen  years  of  age,  $3.00 
for  those  over  that  age.  Those  who  take  sittings  find 
in  their  seats,  on  the  first  of  every  month,  a  small  en- 
velope made  out  in  bill  form  on  the  face,  stating  the 
month  and  the  amount  due.  Into  this  they  can  place 
their  money,  seal  it,  and  put  it  into  the  basket  when  the 
offering  is  taken.  The  following  Sunday  a  receipt  is 
placed  in  their  seat,  a  duplicate  being  kept  in  the  ofiice. 
Envelopes  are  sent  those  who  do  not  have  sittings,  and 
in  these  they  can  send  in  their  dues  any  time  within  the 
year. 

In  addition  to  the  little  envelope  for  the  seat  rent, 
every  Sunday  envelopes  are  placed  in  each  seat  for  the 
regular  Sunday  offering.     These  envelopes  read: 

SPECIAL  OFFERING 

THE    BAPTIST    TBTMPLE 

Amount 


Name    

Address     

This  offering  is  made  in  thankful  recognition  of  the  Mercy  and 
Goodness  of  God  during  the  past  week,  and  with  the  hope  that 
my  gift  and  my  prayer  may  be  acceptable  to  God. 

In  addition  to  the  amount  raised  from  sittings  and  dues,  it  ia 
necessary  for  the  payment  of  the  debt  on  the  Temple  to  have 
givers  for  5  years  as  follows: 

100  persons  who  will  contribute  50  cents  per  week.  300  per- 
sons 25  cents  per  week.  1000  persons  10  cents  per  week.  1300 
persons  5  cents  per  week. 


186  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

VISITORS   AND   MEMBERS 

Can  enclose  special  Messages  for  the  Pastor  with  their  offer- 
ings. 

This  Gift  will  be  Recorded  on  the  books  of  the  Church. 

All  this  money  pours  into  the  business  office  of  the 
church,  where  it  is  taken  in  charge  by  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee of  the  Board  of  Trustees 'and  duly  recorded  by 
the  Financial  Secretar5^ 

The  business  office  is  a  very  businesslike  place,  with 
files,  typewriter,  letter-copying  press,  big  ledgers  and 
all  the  modern  appliances  of  an  up-to-date  business 
office. 

The  card  system  is  used  for  keeping  tlie  record  of 
member's  contribution,  being  printed  in  a  form  that  will 
last  for  eight  years. 

All  payments  are  entered  on  these,  and  at  any  time 
at  a  moment's  notice,  a  member  can  tell  just  what  he 
has  paid  or  what  he  owes  on  the  year's  account. 

But  in  addition,  the  Sunday  offerings  of  all  those  who 
place  their  contributions  in  envelopes  at  the  morning 
and  evening  service  and  sign  their  names,  are  entered 
on  cards,  and  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  basket  col- 
lections alone  for  the  year  1904  amounted  to  $6,995.00, 
it  can  be  seen  that  this  is  no  light  task.  But  The  Tem- 
ple appreciates  what  is  given  it,  and  likes  to  keep  a 
record.  Any  person  giving  to  The  Temple  and  signing 
his  name  to  his  gift,  can  find  at  any  time  how  much  he 
has  contributed  during  the  year. 

All  this  income  is  deposited  to  the  order  of  the  church 
treasurer,  who  is  then  at  liberty  to  draw  against  it  as 
directed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  properly  certified 
by  their  chairman  and  secretary.     The  business  office  is 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  187 

kept  open  during  the  entire  week  with  the  exception  of 
two  afternoons  and  two  evenings. 

The  pew  committe©,  which  is  composed  of  three  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  attends  to  the  rental  of 
the  many  sittings  in  The  Temple.  A  large  number 
of  the  regular  attendants  at  the  services  of  The 
Temple  are  not  members  of  the  church.  They 
enjoy  the  services  and  so  rent  sittings  that  they  may  be 
sure  of  a  seat.  The  third  committee  drawn  from  the  ' 
Board  of  Trustees  is  the  House  Committee,  composed 
of  three  members.  It  has  charge  of  The  Temple  build- 
ing; sees  to  its  being  kept  in  order;  arranges  for  all 
regular  and  special  meetings ;  sees  that  the  building  is 
properly  heated  and  lighted ;  decides  on  all  questions 
as  to  the  use  of  the  house  for  any  purpose,  for  the  use 
of  a  part  of  it  for  special  purposes ;  manages  the  great 
crowds  that  so  often  throng  the  building ;  has  charge  of 
the  doors  when  entertainments  are  going  on ;  in  short, 
makes  the  most  and  the  best  of  the  great  building  under 
its  care.  Six  persons  are  constantly  employed  in  taking 
care  of  The  Temple,  and  often  there  is  necessity  for  se- 
curing extra  help  for  the  caretakers  of  this  church  whose 
doors  are  never  shut 

The  Deacons,  as  always,  look  after  the  welfare  of  the 
membership.  On  Communion  Sundays,  cards  are 
passed  the  members  that  they  may  sign  their  names. 
These  cards  the  Deacons  take  charge  of  and  record  the 
members  present  and  those  absent.  If  a  member  is 
away  three  successive  communion  Sundays  the  Deacons 
call  on  him,  if  he  lives  in  the  city,  to  find  the  cause  of 
his  absence.  If  he  resides  in  some  neighboring  town, 
they  send  a  kindly  letter  to  know  if  it  is  not  possible  for 
him  to  attend  some  of  the  Communion  services.     In 


188  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

person  or  by  letter,  they  keep  a  loving  watch  over  the 
vast  membership,  so  that  every  member  feels  that  even 
though  he  may  not  attend  often,  he  is  not  forgotten. 

Thus  the  business  of  Grace  Baptist  Church  is  man- 
aged prayerfully  but  practically.  If  some  part  of  the 
machinery  seems  cumbersome,  shrewd  and  experienced 
minds  take  the  matter  in  hand  and  see  whereby  it  can 
be  improved.  What  may  seem  a  good  method  to-day, 
a  year  from  now  may  be  deemed  a  waste  of  time  and 
energy  and  cast  aside  for  the  new  and  improved  system 
that  has  taken  its  place  in  the  world  of  every-day  work. 
In  its  business  methods  the  church  keeps  up  to  the  times, 
as  well  as  in  its  spiritual  work.  It  knows  it  cannot 
grow  if  it  is  not  alive. 


CHAPTER  XXY 
THE  CHORUS   OF  THE  TEMPLE 

Its  Leader,  Professor  David  Wood.  How  he  Came  to  the  Church. 
A  sketch  of  His  life.  The  Business  Management  of  the  Chorus. 
The  Fine  System.  The  Sheet  Music  and  Its  Care.  Oratorios 
and  Concerts.  Finances  of  the  Chorus.  Contributions  it  has 
Made  to  Church  Work. 

WITH  a  pastor  who  had  loved  music  from  child- 
hood, who  taught  it  in  his  early  manhood, 
who  was  himself  proficient  on  several  instru- 
ments, music  naturally  assumed  an  important  place 
in  Temple  life  and  work.  From  the  moment  of  his 
entering  upon  the  pastorate  of  Grace  Baptist  Church, 
Mr.  Conwell  made  the  music  an  enjoyable  feature  of  the 
services. 

In  this  early  work  of  organizing  and  developing  a 
church  choir,  he  found  an  able  and  loyal  leader  in  Pro- 
fessor David  D.  Wood,  who  threw  himself  heart,  and 
soul  into  helping  the  church  to  grow  musically.  He 
has  been  to  the  musical  life  of  the  church  what  Mr.  Con- 
well  has  been  to  its  spiritual  growth,  and  next  to  their 
pastor  himself,  it  is  doubtful  if  any  man  is  so  endeared 
to  the  Grace  Church  membership  as  is  Professor  Wood, 
their  blind  organist. 

He  came  to  them  in  May,  1885,  the  regular  organist 
being  sick.  His  connection  with  the  church  came  about 
in  the  most  simple  manner  and  yet  it  has  been  inval- 

189 


190  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

liable  to  the  work  of  The  Temple.  His  son  was  an  at- 
tendant at  the  church,  and  when  the  regular  organist 
fell  ill,  asked  his  father  if  he  would  not  take  his  place. 
Ever  ready  to  do  a  kindness,  Professor  Wood  consented. 
The  organist  never  sufficiently  recovered  to  come  back 
to  his  post,  being  compelled  to  go  West  finally  for  his 
health.  Mr.  Conwell  asked  Professor  Wood  to  take  the 
position,  and  from  that  day  to  the  present  he  has  filled 
it  to  the  satisfaction  and  gratification  of  the  Grace 
Church. 

He  was  bom  in  Pittsburgh,  March  2,  1838.  His 
parents  were  poor,  his  father  being  a  carpenter  and  he 
himself  built  the  little  log  cabin  in  which  the  family 
lived.  When  David  was  a  baby  only  a  few  months  old, 
he  lost  the  sight  of  one  eye  by  inflammation  resulting 
from  a  severe  cold.  When  about  three  years  old,  he  noise- 
lessly followed  his  sister  into  the  cellar  one  day,  intend- 
ing in  a  spirit  of  mischief  to  blow  out  the  candle  she 
was  carrying.  Just  as  he  leaned  over  to  do  it,  she,  un- 
conscious that  he  was  there,  raised  up,  thrusting  the 
candle  in  her  hand  right  into  his  eye.  The  little  boy's 
cry  of  pain  was  the  first  warning  of  his  presence.  The 
eye  was  injured,  but  probably  he  would  not  entirely 
have  lost  its  sight  had  he  not  been  attacked  shortly  after 
this  with  scarlet  fever.  When  he  recovered  from  this 
illness  he  was  entirely  blind.  But  the  affliction  did  not 
change  his  sweet,  loving  disposition.  He  entered  as  best 
he  could  into  the  games  and  sports  of  childhood  and 
grew  rugged  and  strong.  One  day,  while  playing  in  the 
road,  he  was  nearly  run  over  by  a  carriage  driven 
by  a  lady.  Learning  the  little  fellow  was  blind,  she 
became  interested  in  him  and  j:old  his  father  of  the 
school  for  the  blind  in  Philadelphia.     His  parents  de- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  191 

cided  to  send  him  to  It,  and  at  five  years  of  age  lie  was 
sent  over  the  mountains,  making  the  journey  in  five  days 
by  canal. 

He  vi^as  a  bright,  diligent  pupil  and  a  great  reader, 
showing  even  at  an  early  age  his  passion  for  music. 
When  eight  years  old,  he  learned  the  flute.  Soon  he 
could  play  the  violin  and  piano,  and  in  his  twelfth  year 
he  began  playing  the  organ.  All  these  instruments  he 
took  up  and  mastered  himself  without  special  instruc- 
tion. In  mathematics,  James  G.  Blaine  was  his  in- 
structor for  two  years. 

After  leaving  school  his  struggles  to  succeed  as  an  or- 
ganist were  hard  and  bitter.  Despite  his  unusual  abil- 
ity, it  was  difficult  to  secure  a  position.  He  met  with 
far  more  refusals  than  encouragement.  But  he  was 
persistent  and  cheerful.  Finally  success  came.  Two 
days  before  Easter  the  organist  of  an  Episcopal  church 
was  suddenly  incapacitated  and  no  one  could  be  found 
to  play  the  music.  Professor  Wood  offered  himself. 
The  rector's  wife  read  the  music  to  him.  He  learned 
it  in  an  hour,  and  rehearsal  and  the  services  passed  off 
without  a  break.  He  was  immediately  engaged,  his 
salary  being  one  hundred  dollars  a  year.  His  next 
position  paid  him  fifty  dollars  a  year.  In  1864,  he 
went  to  St.  Stephen's  Episcopal  Church,  Philadel- 
phia, as  choirmaster  and  organist,  which  position  he 
still  holds,  playing  at  The  Temple  in  the  evenings  only. 

He  is  to-day  one  of  the  most  widely  known  organists 
of  the  country,  being  acknowledged  everywhere  a  master 
of  the  instrument.  He  is  a  member  of  the  faculty  of 
the  Philadelphia  Musical  Academy,  principal  of  the 
music  department  in  the  Pennsylvania  School  for  the 


192  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

Blind.  It  is  said  he  has  trained  more  good  organists 
than  any  other  teacher  in  Philadelphia. 

His  cheery,  kindly  personality  wins  loyalty  and  devo- 
tion at  once.  His  Christianity  is  the  simple,  loving, 
practical  kind  that  fairly  shines  from  his  presence  and 
attracts  people  to  him  immediately.  The  members  of 
the  Chorus  of  The  Temple  are  devoted  to  him.  No  rules 
are  required  to  keep  them  in  order ;  no  other  inspiration 
to  do  their  best  is  needed  than  his  simple  wish. 

In  the  old  church  at  Mervine  and  Berks  streets  he  had 
a  volunteer  choir  of  about  twenty,  all  that  the  little  organ 
loft  would  accommodate.  They  could  sing  as  tlie  birds 
sing,  because  they  had  voices  and  loved  it,  but  of  musical 
training  or  education  they  had  little.  They  were  drawn 
from  the  membership  of  the  church,  composed  of  poor 
working  people. 

From  this  nucleus  grew  the  chorus  of  The  Temple, 
which  was  organized  in  1891,  six  weeks  before  the  mem- 
bership took  possession  of  its  new  building.  With  the 
organization  of  this  large  chorus.  Professor  Wood  faced 
a  new  and  difficult  problem.  How  was  he  to  hold  from 
one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  people  together, 
who  were  not  paid  for  their  services,  who  were  not 
people  of  leisure  to  whom  rehearsals  are  no  tax  on  time 
or  strength  ?  These  were  nearly  all  working  people 
who  came  to  rehearsal  after  a  day's  tiring  employment. 
That  he  has  succeeded  so  splendidly  in  these  fourteen 
years  proves  his  fine  leadership. 

He  had  a  body  of  workers  devoted  to  the  church,  peo- 
ple before  whom  was  ever  held  up  the  fact  that  they 
could  serve  the  Master  they  all  loved  by  singing,  if  they 
could  in  no  other  way ;  that  they  could  give  their  voices, 
if  they  could  give  nothing  else.     He  had  a   body  of 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  193 

workers  devoted  also  to  himself,  wlio  would  have  fol- 
lowed him  unhesitatingly  no  matter  what  commands  he 
lay  upon  them.  But  he  felt  they  should  have  some 
other  encouragement,  some  other  interest  to  hold  them 
together,  so  almost  immediately  upon  their  organization 
he  took  up  the  study  of  Haydn's  "  Creation."  It  seemed 
a  stupendous  undertaking  for  a  young  and  inexperienced 
chorus,  one  with  no  trained  voices,  few  of  whom  could 
even  read  music  at  sight.  But  they  plunged  into  the 
study  with  spirit,  l^o  incentive  was  needed  to  come  to 
rehearsals,  no  one  thought  of  dropping  out.  Indeed,  the 
opportunity  to  study  such  music  under  such  a  master 
brought  many  new  members.  And  in  the  fall  of  that 
year  the  oratorio  was  given  with  splendid  success. 

This  method  has  been  followed  ever  since.  Every 
year  some  special  work  is  taken  up  for  study  and  given 
in  the  fall.  It  is  an  event  that  is  now  a  recognized 
feature  of  the  city's  musical  life,  eagerly  awaited  by 
music  lovers  not  only  of  Philadelphia  but  of  nearby 
towns.  In  addition  to  Haydn's  "  Creation,"  which  has 
been  sung  four  times,  the  chorus  has  given  Handel's 
"  Messiah  "  three  times,  Mendelssohn's  "  Elijah  "  twice, 
Beethoven's  "  Mount  of  Olives,"  Mendelssohn's  "  Hymn 
of  Praise,"  Miriam's  "  Song  of  Triumph."  It  has  also 
given  a  number  of  secular  concerts.  Eor  all  this  extra 
work  neither  Professor  Wood  nor  any  member  of  the 
chorus  has  ever  received  one  cent  of  pay.  It  is  all 
cheerfully  contributed.  The  oratorios  are  given  with 
a  full  orchestra  and  eminent  soloists.  In  the  secular 
concerts  the  music  is  always  of  the  highest  order.  Guil- 
mant,  the  celebrated  French  organist,  gave  a  recital  at 
The  Temple  while  in  this  country.  The  chorus  believes 
in  the  best,  both  in  the  class  of  music  it  gives  and  the 

13 


194  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

talent  it  secures,  and  has  long  been  looked  on  by  those 
interested  in  the  city's  musical  welfare  as  a  society  that 
encourages  and  supports  all  that  is  high  and  fine  in 
music.  Among  the  selections  given  at  the  Sunday  ser- 
vices are  Gounod's  "  Sanctus,"  the  magnificent  ^'  Pil- 
grim's Chorus,"  the  "  Gloria,"  from  Mozart's  "  Twelfth 
Mass,"  Handel's  beautiful  "  Largo,"  the  "  St  Cecilia 
Mass,"  and  others  of  the  same  character. 

The  plan  of  fining  members  for  absence  from  re- 
hearsal, which  was  adopted  at  the  time  the  chorus  was 
organized,  has  also  had  much  to  do  with  its  success, 
thouffh  it  is  rather  unusual  for  a  choir.  Instead  of 
being  paid  to  sing,  they  pay  if  they  do  not  sing.  The 
fine  at  first  was  twenty-five  cents  for  each  failure  to 
attend  rehearsal  or  Sunday  service.  Many  shook  their 
heads  and  said  it  was  a  bad  idea,  that  the  members 
wouldn't  come  and  couldn't  pay  the  fine,  and  that  the 
chorus  would  go  to  pieces.  But  the  members,  did  come, 
and  when  for  any  reason  they  were  compelled  to  stay 
away  they  cheerfully  pr.id  the  fine  and  the  chorus 
flourished.  These  fines  helped  to  pay  the  current  ex- 
penses of  the  chorus.  In  die  last  three  years  the  amount 
has  been  reduced  to  ten  cents,  but  it  still  nets  a  sum  in 
the  course  of  the  year  that  the  treasurer  welcomes  most 
gladly.  A  collection  is  also  taken  at  each  service  among 
the  members,  which  likevzise  helps  to  swell  the  chorus 
treasury. 

Speaking  of  the  orgr.r  ization  and  work  of  such  a 
chorus,  Professor  Wood  G^ys: 

"  In  organizing  a  church  chorus  one  must  not  be  too 
particular  about  the  prev'ous  musical  education  of  ap- 
plicants. It  is  not  necessary  thai  they  be  musicians,  or 
even  that  they  read  music  readily.     All  that  I  insist 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  195 

upon  Is  a  fairly  good  voice  and  a  correct  ear,  I  assume, 
of  course,  that  all  comers  desire  to  learn  to  sing.  Re- 
hearsals must  be  scmpnlonsly  maintained,  beginning 
promptly,  continuing  with  spirit,  and  not  interrupted 
with  disorder  of  any  kind.  A  rehearsal  should  never 
exceed  two  hours,  and  a  half  hour  less  is  plenty  long 
enough,  if  there  is  no  waste  of  time.  In  learning  new 
music,  voices  should  be  rehearsed  separately ;  that  is,  all 
sopranos,  tenors,  basses,  and  altos  by  themselves  first, 
then  combine  the  voices.  You  should  place  before  a  choir 
a  variety  of  music  sufficient  to  arouse  the  interest  of  all 
concerned.  This  will  include  much  beyond  the  direct 
demand  for  church  work.  The  chorus  of  The  Temple 
has  learned  and  sung  on  appropriate  occasions  war 
songs,  college  songs,  patriotic  songs,  and  other  grades  of 
popular  music. 

"  'No  one  man's  taste  should  rule  in  regard  to  these 
questions  as  to  variety,  although  the  proprieties  of  every 
occasion  should  be  carefully  preserved.  Due  regard 
must  be  paid  to  the  taste  of  members  of  the  chorus.  If 
any  of  them  express  a  wish  for  a  particular  piece,  I  let 
them  have  it.  When  it  comes  my  time  to  select,  they 
are  with  me.  Keep  some  high  attainment  before  the 
singers  all  the  time.  When  the  easier  tasks  are  mas- 
tered, attempt  something  more  difficult.  It  maintains 
enthusiasm  to  be  ever  after  something  better,  and  en- 
thusiasm is  a  power  ever)n^here.  In  music,  this  is  '  the 
spirit  which  quickeneth.' 

"  In  the  preparation  of  chorus  work  do  not  insist 
on  perfection.  When  I  get  them  to  sing  fairly  well, 
I  am  satisfied.  To  insist  on  extreme  accuracy  will 
discourage  singers.     Do  not,  therefore,  overtrain  them. 

"  An  incredible  amount  may  be  done  even  by  a  crude 


196  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

company  of  singers.  When  the  preparation  began  for 
the  opening  of  The  Temple,  there  was  but  a  handful  of 
volunteers  and  time  for  but  five  rehearsals.  But  enthu- 
siasm rose,  reinforcements  came,  and  six  anthems,  in- 
cluding the  '  Hallelujah  Chorus/  were  prepared  and 
sung  in  a  praiseworthy  manner.  Do  not  fear  to  attempt 
great  things.     Timidity  ruins  many  a  chorus. 

"  Do  not  be  afraid  to  praise  your  singers.  Give 
praise,  and  plenty  of  it,  whenever  and  wherever  it  is 
due.  A  domineering  spirit  will  prove  disastrous. 
Severity  or  ridicule  will  kill  them.  Correct  faults 
faithfully  and  promptly,  but  kindly. 

"  In  the  matter  of  discipline  I  am  a  strong  advocate 
of  the  '  fine  system.'  It  is  the  only  way  to  keep  a  chorus 
together.  The  fines  should  be  regulated  according  to 
the  financial  ability  of  the  chorus.  Our  fine  at  The 
Temple  was  at  first  twenty-five  cents  for  every  rehearsal 
and  every  service?  missed.  It  has  since  been  dropped  to 
ten  cents.  This  is  quite  moderate.  In  some  musical 
societies  the  fine  is  one  dollar  for  every  absence.  This 
system  is  far  better  than  monthly  dues. 

'*'  The  advantages  to  members  of  a  chorus  are  many 
and  of  great  value.  Concerted  work  has  advantages 
which  can  be  secured  in  no  other  way.  A  good  chorus 
is  an  unequaled  drill  in  musical  time.  The  singer  can- 
not humor  himself  as  the  soloist  can,  but  must  go  right 
on  with  the  grand  advance  of  the  company.  He  gets 
constant  help  also,  in  the  accurate  reading  of  music 
Then,  too,  there  is  an  indescribable,  uplifting,  enkin- 
dling power  in  the  presence  and  cooperation  of  others. 
The  volume  of  song  lifts  one,  as  when  a  great  congrega- 
tion sings.  It  is  the  esprit  du  'corps  of  the  army :  that 
magnetic  power  which  comes  from  the  touch  of  elbows, 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  197 

and  the  consecration  to  a  common  cause.  Xo  soloist 
gets  this. 

"  Some  would-be  soloists  make  a  great  mistake  right 
here.  They  think  that  chorus  work  spoils  them  as  solo- 
ists. !N'ot  at  all,  if  they  have  proper  views  of  individual 
work  in  a  chorus.  If  they  propose  to  sing  out  so  they 
shall  sound  forth  above  all  others,  then  they  may  damage 
their  voices  for  solo  work.  But  that  is  a  needless  and 
highly  improper  use  of  the  voice.  Sing  along  with  the 
others  in  a  natural  tone.  They  will  be  helped  and  the 
soloist  will  not  be  harmed. 

"  The  best  conservatories  of  music  in  the  world  re- 
quire of  their  students  a  large  amount  of  practice  in  con- 
certed performance  and  will  not  grant  diplomas  without 
it.  All  the  great  soloists  have  served  their  time  as 
chorus  singers.  Parepa-Rosa,  when  singing  in  the  solo 
parts  in  oratorio,  would  habitually  sing  in  the  chorus 
parts  also,  singing  from  beginning  to  end  with  the 
others. 

"  Many  persons  have  expressed  their  astonishment 
at  the  absence  of  the  baton  both  from  the  rehearsals  and 
public  performances  of  the  chorus  of  The  Temple.  Ex- 
perience has  proven  to  me,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  a  chorus 
can  be  better  drilled  without  a  baton  than  with  it, 
though  it  costs  more  labor  and  patience  to  obtain  the  re- 
sult. To  sing  by  common  inspiration  is  far  better  than 
to  have  the  music  '  pumped  out,'  as  is  too  often  the 
case,  by  the  uncertain  movements  of  the  leader's  baton." 

With  a  membership  that  has  ranged  from  one  hun- 
dred to  two  hundred  and  fifty,  skilled  business  manage- 
ment is  needed  to  keep  everything  running  smoothly. 

The  record  of  attendance  is  regulated  by  the  use  of 
checks.     Each   member    of  the   chorus    is    assigned    a 


198  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

mimber.  As  thej  come  to  rehearsal,  service,  or  concert, 
the  singer  removes  the  check  on  which  is  his  number 
from  the  board  upon  which  it  hangs  and  gives  it  to 
the  person  appointed  to  receive  it  as  he  passes  up  the 
stairway  to  his  seat  in  the  choir.  When  the  numbers 
are  checked  up  at  the  close  of  the  evening,  the  checks 
which  have  not  been  removed  from  the  board  are  marked 
"  absent." 

The  bill  for  sheet  music  for  one  year  is  something 
between  $iOO  and  $500.  To  care  for  so  much  music 
would  be  no  light  task  if  it  were  not  reduced  to  a  science. 
The  music  is  in  charge  of  the  chorus  librarian,  who 
gives  to  each  member  an  envelope  stamped  with  his 
number  and  containing  all  the  sheet  music  used  by  the 
chorus.  Each  member  is  responsible  for  his  music,  so 
that  the  system  resolves  itself  into  simplicits^  itself.  In 
the  Lower  Temple  enclosed  closets  are  built  in  the  wall, 
divided  into  sections,  in  which  the  envelopes  are  kept 
by  their  numbers,  so  that  it  is  but  the  work  of  a  moment 
to  find  the  music  for  any  singer.  An  insurance  of 
$1,200  is  caiTied  on  the  music. 

Typical  of  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  that  animates 
the  chorus  is  the  fact  that  for  nearly  ten  years  after  the. 
choir  was  organized,  one  of  the  members,  in  order  to  re- 
duce the  expense  for  sheet  music,  copied  on  a  mimeo- 
graph all  the  music  used  by  the  members.  It  was  a 
gigantic  task,  but  he  never  faltered  while  the  need  was 
felt. 

In  order  to  avoid  confusion  both  in  rehearsals  and 
at  each  service,  every  singer  has  an  appointed  seat. 
There  is  also  a  system  of  signals  employed  by  the  or- 
ganist, clearly  understood  and  -  promptly  i^esponded  to 
by  the  chorus,  for  rising,  resuming  their  seats,  and  for 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  19» 

any  other  duty.  This  regularity  of  movement,  the  pre- 
cision with  which  the  great  choir  leads  the  attitudes 
and  voices  of  the  congregation  in  all  the  musical  ser- 
vices, the  entire  absence  of  confusion,  impresses  the 
thoroughness  of  the  chorus  drill  upon  every  one,  and 
adds  greatly  to  the  effectiveness  and  decorum  of  the  ser- 
vice. 

Most  remarkable  of  all  the  work  of  the  chorus,  per- 
haps, is  the  fact  that  it  has  not  only  paid  its  way,  but 
it  has  in  addition  contributed  financially  to  the  help 
of  the  church.  Most  choral  societies  have  to  be  sup- 
ported by  guarantors,  or  friends  or  members  must  reach 
down  in  their  pockets  and  make  up  the  deficits  that  oc- 
cur with  unpleasant  regularity.  But  the  chorus  of  The 
Temple  has  borne  its  own  expenses  and  at  various  times 
contributed  to  the  church  work. 

At  the  annual  banquet  in  1905,  the  following  state- 
ment was  made  of  the  financial  history  of  the  chorus 
since  1892 : 

Amount  Received  — 

Collections    from    members.    .'■ $2,564.60 

Fines    paid   by   members 975.60 

Gross  receipts  from  concerts.., 11,299.40 

$14,839.60 
Amount  Disbursed  — 

For   music $  2,167.80 

For  sundry  expenses  for  socials,  flowers  for  sick, 

contributions   for  benevolent  purposes,  etc..      1,035.81 

Expenses  of  concerts 8,506.34 

Contributions  to  church,  college,  hospital,  Sunday 

School,  repairs  to  organ,  etc 3,050.51 

$14,760.46 


200  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

The  chorus  has  furnished  a  private  room  in  the 
Samaritan  Hospital  at  a  cost  of  $250,  pays  half  the 
cost  of  the  telephone  service  to  a  shut-in  member,  so  that 
while  lying  on  his  bed  of  sickness  he  can  still  hear  the 
preaching  and  singing  of  his  beloved  church,  and  has 
contributed  to  members  in  need ;  in  fact,  whatever  help 
was  required,  it  has  come  forward  and  shouldered  its 
share  of  the  financial  burdens  of  the  church.  It  is  a 
chorus  that  helps  by  its  singing  in  more  ways  than  sing- 
ling, though  that  were  enough. 

Out  of  the  chorus  has  grown  many  smaller  organiza- 
tions which  not  only  assist  from  time  to  time  in  the 
church  and  prayer  meeting  services,  but  are  in  frequent 
demand  by  Lyceums  and  other  churches.  All  the 
money  they  earn  is  devoted  to  some  part  of  The  Temple 
work. 

The  organ  which  rears  its  forest  of  beautiful  pipes 
in  the  rear  of  the  church  is  one  of  the  finest  in-  the  eonn- 
try.  It  was  built  under  the  direct  supervision  of  Pro- 
fessor Wood  at  a  cost  of  $10,000.  The  case  is  of  oak 
in  the  natural  finish,  35  feet  wide,  35  feet  high,  16  feet 
deep.  It  has  41  stops,  2,133  pipes,  four  sets  of  man- 
uals, each  manual  with  a  compass  of  61  notes;  there 
are  30  pedal  notes,  9  double-acting  combination  pedals ; 
all  the  metal  pipes  are  75  per  cent  pure  tin. 

In  loving  Christian  fellowship  the  chorus  abides. 
"No  difficulty  that  could  not  be  settled  among  themselves 
has  ever  rent  it ;  no  jealousies  mar  its  peaceful  course. 
Professor  Wood  is  a  wise  leader.  He  leaves  no  loop- 
hole for  the  green-eyed  monster  to  creep  in.  He  selects 
no  one  voice  to  take  solo  parts.  If  a  solo  occurs,  he  gives 
it  to  the  whole  of  that  voice  in  the  chorus  or  to  a  pro- 
fessional. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  201 

Dr.  Con  well  reads  the  hymns  with  so  much  expres- 
sion and  feeling  that  new  meaning  is  put  into  them. 
The  stranger  is  quietly  handed  a  hymn  book  by  some 
watchful  member.  The  organ  swings  into  the  melody 
of  the  hymn,  the  chorus,  as  one,  rises,  and  a  flood  of  song 
sweeps  over  the  vast  auditorium  that  carries  every  one 
as  in  a  mighty  tide  almost  up  to  the  gates  of  heaven 
itself.  And  as  it  ebbs  and  sinks  into  silence,  faith  has 
been  refreshed  and  strengthened,  hardened  hearts  soft- 
ened, the  love  of  Christ  left  as  a  precious  legacy  with 
many  a  man  and  woman  there. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

SERVICES  AT  THE  TEMPLE 

A  Typical  Sunday.  The  Young  People's  Church.  Sunday  School, 
The  Baptismal  Service.  Dedication  of  Infants.  The  Pastor's 
Thanksgiving  Reception  to  Cliildren.  Sunrise  Services.  Watch 
Meeting. 

SUNDAY  is  a  joyous  day  at  The  Temple,  and  a  busy 
one.  It  is  crowded  with  work  and  it  is  good  to 
he  there.  Services  begin  at  half  after  nine  with 
prayer  meetings  in  the  Lower  Temple  by  the  Young 
Men's  Association  and  the  Young  Women's  Association. 
The  men's  is  held  in  the  regular  prayer  meeting  room ; 
the  women's  in  the  room  of  their  association.  Each  is 
led  by  some  member  of  the  association  who  is  assigned  a 
subject  for  the  morning's  stud}''.  These  subjects,  to- 
gether with  the  leaders'  names,  are  prepared  in  advance 
and  printed  on  a  little  schedule  which  is  distributed 
among  the  church  members,  so  that  they  may  know 
who  has  charge  of  the  prayer  meeting  and  the  topic  for 
thought. 

Dr.  Conwell  has  for  twenty-two  years  presided  at  the 
organ  in  the  men's  meeting,  and  usually  before  the  ser- 
vices are  over  takes  a  peep  into  the  women's  gathering, 
leaving  a  prayer  or  a  brief  word  of  cheer  and  inspira- 
tion. The  meetings  are  not  long,  but  they  are  fiill  of 
spiritual  strength.  Men  and  women,  tired  with  the 
strenuous  business  life  of  the  week,  find  them  places  of 

202 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  203 

soul  refreshment  wliero  tliey  can  step  aside  from  tlie 
nisli  and  press  of  worldly  cares  and  commune  with  the 
higher,  better  things  of  life. 

By  the  time  the  prayer  meetings  are  over,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  chorus  are  thronging  the  Lower  Temple, 
receiving  their  music  and  attendance  checks,  waiting 
for  the  signal  to  march  to  their  seats  in  the  church 
above. 

The  morning  services  begin  at  half  after  ten,  with  the 
singing  of  the  Doxology,  the  chanting  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer  by  the  choir  and  congregation,  followed  by  the 
sermon.  At  the  close  of  the  service,  Dr.  Conwell  steps 
from  the  pulpit  and  meets  all  strangers  or  friends  with 
a  hearty  handclasp  and  a  cordial  word  of  greeting. 

While  morning  service  is  being  conducted  in  The 
Temple,  a  Young  People's  Church  is  held  in  the  Lower 
Temple.  Dr.  Conwell  has  not  forgotten  those  weari- 
some Sundays  of  his  boyhood  when,  too  young  to  appre- 
ciate the  church  service,  he  fidgeted,  strove  to  keep 
awake,  whittled,  and  ended  it  all  by  thoroughly  dislik- 
ing church.  He  wants  no  such  unhappy  youngsters  to 
sit  through  his  preaching.  He  wants  no  such  dislike  of 
the  church  imbedded  in  childish  hearts  and  minds.  So 
he  planned  the  Young  People's  Church.  Boys  and  girls 
between  three  and  fourteen  attend  it,  and  Sunday  morn- 
ing the  streets  in  the  neighborhood  of  The  Temple  are 
thronged  with  happy-faced  children  on  the  way  to  their 
own  church,  the  youngest  in  the  care  of  parents,  who  are 
able  later  to  enjoy  more  fully  The  Temple  services, 
since  they  are  not  compelled  to  keep  a  watchful  eye  on 
a  restless  child. 

Before  the  services  begin,  the  children  are  very  much 
at  home.     Ko   stiff,    silent  formalism  chills  youthful 


204  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

spirits.  Thej  are  as  joyous  and  tappy  as  they  would 
be  in  their  o"wn  homes.  As  the  moment  approaches  for 
the  services  to  begin,  they  take  their  seats  and  at  a  given 
signal  rise  and  recite,  "  The  Lord  is  in  His  holy  Tem- 
ple. Let  all  the  earth  keep  silence  before  Him."  A 
hush  falls  and  then  the  sweet,  childish  voices  begin  that 
beautiful  psalm,  "  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not 
want,"  and  without  break  or  faltering,  recite  it  to  the 
end.  Songs  follow,  bright,  cheerful  songs  full  of  life, 
which  they  sing  with  a  will.  Then  responsive  readings 
and  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  always  plenty  of  singing.  A 
short  talk  is  given  by  the  leader,  often  some  one  espe- 
cially secured  for  the  occasion,  a  talk  not  over  their 
heads,  but  into  their  hearts,  a  talk  whose  meaning  they 
can  grasp  and  which  sets  young  minds  to  thinking  of 
the  finer,  nobler  things  of  life  and  inspires  them  to  so 
live  as  to  be  good  and  useful.  Sometimes  lantern  ex- 
hibits to  illustrate  special  topics  are  given.  •  The  mere 
sight  of  their  bright,  happy  faces  in  contrast  to  the  dull, 
bored  expression  of  the  usual  child  in  church  proves  the 
wisdom  of  the  work. 

The  children,  as  far  as  possible,  perform  all  the  duties 
of  the  services.  A  small  boy  plays  the  music  for  their 
songs,  two  small  girls  keep  a  record  of  the  attendance, 
children  take  up  the  offering.  Eut  it  is  a  church  in 
more  than  mere  services.  Committees  from  among  the 
children  are  appointed  for  visiting,  for  calling  on  the 
sick,  to  plan  for  entertainments,  provide  the  games  for 
the  socials,  and  to  look  after  all  details  of  this  character. 
There  are  also  two  officers,  a  secretary  and  treasurer. 
An  advisory  committee  of  ladies,  members  of  The  Tem- 
ple, keep  an  oversight  and  guiding  hand  on  the  work  of 
the  children.     The  instruction  is  all  in  the  hands  of 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  205 

trained  teachers,  mostly  from  the  college,  inclnding  as 
Director  the  lady  Dean  of  the  College,  Dr.  Laura  H. 
Camell. 

In  the  afternoon  the  Sunday  Schools  meet.  The 
youngest  children  are  enrolled  in  the  primary  or  kinder- 
garten department.  This  has  a  bright,  cheery  room  of 
its  own  in  the  Lower  Temple,  with  a  leader  and  a  num- 
ber of  young  women  scattered  here  and  there  among  the 
children  to  look  after  their  needs  and  keep  them  orderly. 
Hats  are  taken  off  and  hung  on  pegs  on  the  wall  and  the 
youngsters  are  made  to  feel  very  much  at  home. 

One  of  the  prettiest  features  of  the  service  in  this  de- 
partment is  the  offering  of  the  birthday  pennies.  All 
the  members  who  have  had  a  birthday  during  the  week 
come  forward  to  put  a  penny  for  each  year  into  the 
basket  Then  the  class  stands  up  and  recites  a  verse 
and  sings  a  song  on  birthdays.  Very  pretty  and  inspir- 
ing both  verse  and  song  are,  and  then  the  honored  ones 
return  to  their  seats,  wishing,  no  doubt,  they  had  a  birth- 
day every  week. 

The  taking  of  the  offering  is  also  a  pretty  ceremony. 
Verses  on  giving  are  recited  by  the  children,  then  one 
small  child  takes  his  stand  in  the  doorway,  holding  the 
basket,  and  the  children  all  march  by  and  drop  in  their 
pennies. 

The  intermediate  department  claims  the  next  oldest 
children.  It  is  led  by  an  orchestra  composed  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Sunday  School,  and  the  singing  is  joyous 
and  spirited.  The  superintendent  walks  around  among 
the  scholars  during  the  opening  exercises,  smiling,  en- 
couraging, giving  a  word  of  praise,  iirging  them  to  do 
better.  The  fresh,  clear  voices  rise  clear  and  strong. 
Outside,  on  Broad  Street,  people  stop  to  listen.     Men 


206  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

lean  up  against  the  windows  and  drink  in  the  melody. 
'No  one  knows  what  messages  of  peace  and  salvation 
those  songs  carry  out  to  the  throng  on  the  city  street* 

The  classes  of  the  senior  department  meet  in  the  va- 
rious rooms  of  the  college,  and  the  adult  class  in  the 
auditorium  of  The  Temple.  This  Dr.  Conwell  con- 
ducted himself  for  a  number  of  years,  until  pressure  of 
work  compelled  him  to  use  these  hours  for  rest.  A 
popular  feature  of  his  service  was  the  question  box,  in 
which  he  answered  any  question  sent  to  him  on  any  sub- 
ject connected  with  religious  life  or  experience  or  Chris- 
tian ethics  in  everyday  life.  The  questions  could  be 
sent  by  mail  or  handed  to  him  on  the  platform  by  the 
ushers.  They  were  most  interesting,  and  the  service 
attracted  men  and  women  from  all  parts  of  the  city. 
The  following  was  one  of  the  questions  during  the  year 
of  building  the  college : 

"  Five  thousand  dollars  are  due  next  -week,  and 
$15,000  next  month.  Will  you  set  on  foot  means  to 
raise  this  amount,  or  trust  wholly  to  God's  direction  ?  " 

And  the  pastor  answered  from  the  platform : 

"  I  would  trust  wholly  in  God's  direction.  This  is 
a  sort  of  test  of  faith,  and  I  would  make  it  more  so  in 
the  building  of  the  College.  I  do  not  know  for  certain 
now  where  the  money  is  to  come  from  next  Wednesday ; 
I  have  an  idea.  But  a  few  days  ago  I  did  not  know 
at  all.  I  do  not  see  where  the  $15,000  is  to  come  from 
in  December  unless  it  be  that  the  Feast  of  Tithes  will 
bring  in  $10,000'  towards  it;  that  would  be  a  marvelous 
sum  for  the  people  to  give,  but  if  it  is  necessary  they 
will  give  it.  We  are  workers  together  with  God.  I 
have  partly  given  up  my  lecture  work  this  month,  as 
the  church  thought  it  was  best,  but  suppose  there  should 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  207 

come  to  me  from  Boston,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  or  some 
other  place  a  call  to  go  and  lecture  on  the  10th  or  12th 
of  December,  and  they  should  offer  me  $500  or  more  — 
I  would  say  immediately,  '  Yes,  I  will  go  ' ;  that  is  God's 
call  to  help  the  College ;  that  would  he  the  direction  of 
God.  Such  opportunities  will  come  to  those  who  should 
give  this  $15,000.  If  God  intends  the  amount  due  on 
the  College  to  be  paid  (and  I  believe  he  does),  he  will 
cause  the  hearts  of  those  who  desire  to  help  to  give 
money  toward  this  cause.  We  trust  entirely  to  God.  I 
don't  believe  if  I  were  to  lie  down,  and  the  church  should 
stop,  that  it  would  be  paid.  But  I  am  sure  that  if  we 
work  together  with  God,  He  will  never  fail  to  do  as  He 
promises,  and  He  won't  ask  us  to  do  the  impossible.  I 
tell  you,  friends,  I  feel  sure  that  the  $5,000  will  be  paid 
next  Wednesday,  and  I  feel  sure  the  $15,000  will  be 
paid  when  it  is  due." 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  that  the  $5,000  was 
paid;  and  when  the  $15,000  was  due  in  December,  the 
money  was  in  the  treasury  all  ready  for  it. 

From  half  after  six  on,  there  are^the  meetings  of  the 
various  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  in  the  Lower  Tem- 
ple. At  half  after  seven  the  evening  services  begin  and 
an  overflow  meeting  is  held  at  the  same  time  in  the 
Lower  Temple  for  those  who  find  it  impossible  to  gain 
admittance  to  the  main  auditorium. 

The  preaching  service  is  followed  by  a  half-hour 
prayer  meeting  in  the  Lower  Temple  in  which 
both  congregations  join,  taxing  its  capacity  to  the  ut- 
most. It  is  a  half  hour  that  flies,  a  half  hour  full  of 
inspiration  and  soul  communion  with  the  "  Spirit  that 
moved  on  the  waters,"  a  fitting  crown  to  a  day  devoted 
to  His  ser\dce. 


208  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

After  the  solemn  benediction  is  pronounced,  a  half 
hour  more  of  good  fellowship  follows.  The  pastor 
meets  strangers,  shakes  hands  with  members,  makes  a 
special  effort  to  hold  a  few  words  of  personal  conversa- 
tion with  those  who  have  risen  for  prayer.  Friends  and 
acquaintances  greet  each  other,  and  the  home  life  of  the 
church  comes  to  the  surface.  The  hand  of  the  clock 
creeps  to  eleven,  sometimes  past,  before  the  last  member 
reluctantly  leaves. 

Baptism  is  a  very  frequent  part  of  the  Sunday  ser- 
vices at  The  Temple,  usually  taking  place  in  the  morn- 
ing. It  is  a  beautiful,  solemn  ordinance.  The .  bap- 
tistry is  a  long,  narrow  pool,  arranged  to  resemble  a 
running  stream.  Years  ago,  when  Dr.  Conwell  was  in 
Palestine,  he  was  much  impressed  with  the  beauty  of 
the  river  Jordan  at  the  place  where  Jesus  was  baptized. 
Always  a  lover  of  the  beautiful  in  nature,  the  picture 
long  remained  in  his  memory,  especially  the  leaves  and 
blossoms  that  drifted  on  the  stream.  When  The  Tem- 
ple was  planned  he  thought  of  it  and  determined  to  give 
the  baptismal  pool  as  much  of  the  beauty  of  nature  as 
possible. 

It  is  fifteen  feet  wide,  sixty  feet  long,  and  during 
the  hour  of  the  solemn  ordinance,  the  brook  is  running 
constantly.  The  sides  of  the  pool,  the  pulpit  and  plat- 
form, summer  or  winter,  are  banked  with  flowers,  palms, 
moss  and  vines.  On  the  surface  of  the  water  float  blos- 
soms, while  at  the  back,  banked  with  mosses  and  flowers, 
splashes  and  sparkles  a  little  waterfall.  Over  all  falls 
the  soft  radiance  of  an  illuminated  cross.  It  is  a  beau- 
tiful scene,  one  that  never  fades  from  the  memorv'  of  the 
man  or  woman  who  is  "  buried  with  Christ  by  baptism 
into  death, '^  to  be  raised  again  in  the  likeness  of  His 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  209 

resurrection.  The  candidates  enter  at  the  right  and 
pass  out  at  the  left,  the  pastor  pressing  into  the  hands 
of  each,  some  of  the  beautiful  blossoms  that  float. on  the 
water.  During  the  whole  service  the  organ  plays  softly, 
the   choir   occasionally   singing   some    favorite   hymn. 

^Vllen  the  number  of  candidates  is  large,  being  on 
occasion  as  high  as  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
adults,  the  associate  pastor  assists.  It  is  no  unusual 
thing  to  see  members  of  a  family  coming  together  to 
make  this  public  profession  of  their  faith.  Husband 
and  wife,  in  many  cases ;  husband,  wife  and  children  in 
many  others ;  a  grandmother  and  two  grandchildren  on 
one  occasion,  and  on  yet  another,  a  venerable  gray-haired 
nurse  came  with  four  of  the  family  in  which  she  had 
served  for  many  years,  and  the  five  entered  the  baptistry- 
together. 

"  Among  the  converts,"  says  one  who  witnessed  a 
baptismal  service,  "  there  were  aged  persons  with  their 
silvered  hair.  There  were  stalwart  men,  fitted  to  bear 
burdens  in  the  church  for  many  years  to  come.  There 
were  young  men  and  maidens  to  grow  into  strong  men 
and  women  of  the  future  church.  There  were  little 
children  sweet  in  their  simplicity  and  pure  love  of  the 
Savior,^  little  children  who  were  carried  in  the  arms  of 
those  who  assisted,  and  whom  Dr.  Conwell  tenderly  held 
in  his  arms  as  he  buried  them  with  Christ." 

Another  solemn  service  of  the  church  is  the  dedication 
of  infants.  Any  parents  who  wish,  may  bring  their 
child  and  reverently  dedicate  it  to  God,  solemnly  prom- 
ising to  do  all  within  their  power  to  train  it  and  teach  it 
to  lead  a  Christian  life  and  to  make  a  public  profession 
of  faith  when  it  has  arrived  at  the  years  of  discretion. 
The  service  reads: 


210  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

Question. —  Do  you  now  come  to  the  Lord's  house  to 
present  your  child  (children)  to  the  Lord?  Answer. — 
.We  do. 

Qdes. —  Will  you  promise  before  the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  you  will,  so  far  as  in  you  lieth,  teach 
this  child  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  bring  him  (her)  up  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord?  Will  you  train 
his  (her)  mind  to  respect  the  services  of  the  Lord's  House, 
and  to  live  in  compliance  with  the  teachings  and  example 
of  our  Lord?  When  he  reaches  the  years  of  understand- 
ing, will  you  show  him  the  necessity  of  repentance,  explain 
to  him  the  way  of  salvation,  and  urge  upon  him  the  neces- 
sity of  conversion,  Baptism,  and  union  with  the  visible 
Church  of  Christ  ?     Ans. —  We  will. 

QuES. —  By  what  name  do  you  purpose  to  register  Tiim 
(her  or  them)  at  this  time?     Ans. 

Beloved:  These  parents  have  come  to  the  house  of  God 
at  this  time  to  present  this  child  (these  children)  before 
the  Lord  in  imitation  of  the  presentation  of  the  infant 
Jesus  in  the  Temple  as  recorded  by  the  Evaijgelist  Luke, 
saying,  "  When  the  days  of  her  [Mary's]  purification  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  Moses  were  accomplished,  they 
brought  him  to  Jerusalem  to  present  him  to  the  Lord  and 
to  offer  a  sacrifice  according  to  that  which  is  said  in  the 
law  of  the  Lord,  a  pair  of  turtle  doves  or  two  young 
pigeons."  These  parents  have  learned  from  the  Lord  Jesus 
himself  that  he  desires  that  all  the  children  should  come 
unto  him,  and  that  he  was  pleased  when  the  little  children 
were  brought  unto  him  that  he  might  put  his  hands  on 
them  and  pray.  Therefore,  in  obedience  to  the  scriptures, 
these  parents  are  here  to  present  this  child  unto  the  Lord 
Jesus  in  spirit,  that  he  may  take  him  up  in  his  arms,  place 
his  spiritual  hands  on  him  and  bless  him. 

We  will  turn,  therefore,  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  for  direc- 
tion, as  they  are  oiir  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and 
ascertain  the  wishes  and  commandments  of  the  Lord  in  this 
matter. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  211 

I  Sam.  J,  26,  27,  28: 

And  Hannah  said,  0  my  Lord,  as  thy  soul  liveth,  my 
Lord,  I  am  the  woman  that  stood  by  thee  here,  praying 
unto  the  Lord. 

For  this  chikl  I  prayed ;  and  the  Lord  hath  given  me  my 
petition  which  I  asked  of  him  ; 

Therefore  also  I  have  lent  him  to  the  Lord ;  as  long  as 
he  liveth  he  shall  be  lent  to  the  Lord.  And  he  worshipped 
the  Lord  there. 

Marh  X,  13,  H,  15: 

And  they  brought  young  children  to  him,  that  he  should 
touch  them;  and  his  disciples  rebuked  those  that  brought 
them. 

But  when  Jesus  saw  it,  he  was  much  displeased,  and  said 
unto  them,  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and 
forbid  them  not ;  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Wliosoever  shall  not  receive  the 
kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,  he  shall  not  enter  therein. 

And  he  took  them  up  in  his  arms,  put  his  hands  upon 
them,  and  blessed  them. 

Lv.l-e  XVIII,  15,  16,  17: 

And  they  brought  young  children  to  him,  that  he  should 
touch  them;  but  when  his  disciples  saw  it,  they  rebuked 
them. 

But  Jesus  called  them  unto  him,  and  said.  Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not;  for  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the 
kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
therein. 

Matt.  XVIII,  2-6.  l.r^: 

And  Jesus  called  a  little  child  unto  him,  and  set  him  in 
the  midst  of  them. 

And  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Except  ye  be  converted, 
and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the 
kino-dom  of  heaven. 


212  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

Whosoever  therefore  shall  humhle  himself  as  this  little 
child,  the  same  is  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

And  whoso  shall  receive  one  such  little  child  in  my  name 
receiveth  me. 

But  whoso  shall  offend  one  of  these  little  ones  which  be- 
lieve in  me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were 
hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the 
depth  of  the  sea. 

Even  so  it  is  not  the  will  of  your  father  which  is  in 
heaven,  that  one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish. 

Therefore,  believing  it  is  wise  and  that  it  is  a  sacred  duty 
to  dedicate  our  precious  little  ones  to  Grod  in  this  solemn 
manner;  believing  that  all  the  dear  children  are  especially 
loved  by  Christ ;  and  that  when  taken  from  this  world  be- 
fore active,  intentional  participation  in  sin,  they  are  saved 
by  His  merciful  grace ;  and  believing  that  Christ  by  His 
example,  and  the  apostles  by  their  direct  teaching,  reserve 
the  sacred  ordinance  of  baptism  for  repentant  believers,  we 
will  now  unitedly  ask  the  Lord  to  accept  the  consecration 
of  this  child  (children),  and  to  take  him  in  His  spiritual 
arms  and  bless  him. 

Prayer. 

Hymn. 

Benediction. 

The  pastor's  reception  to  the  children  Thanksgiving 
afternoon  is  a  service  the  youngsters  await  from  one 
year  to  another.  Each  child  is  supposed  to  bring  some 
article  to  be  given  to  Samaritan  Hospital.  One  year 
each  child  brought  a  potato,  which  in  the  aggregate 
amounted  to  several  barrels.  A  writer  in  the  "  Temple 
Magazine,"  describing  one  of  these  services,  says : 

"  The  children  came  from  all  directions,  of  all  sizes 
and  in  all  conditions.  One  lad  marched  up  the  aisle  to  a 
front  seat,  and  his  garments  fluttered,  flag-like,  at  many 
points  as  he  went;  others  were  evidently  rich  men's  darl- 
ings, but  all  were  happy,  and  their  bright  eyes  were 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  213 

fixed  on  the  curtained  platform,  rather  than  on  each 
other.  They  came  until  four  or  five  thousand  of  them 
had  arrived,  filling  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  Upper 
Temple." 

"  Then  Dr.  Conwell  came  in,  made  them  all  feel  at 
home  —  they  already  were  happy  —  and  music,  songs 
and  entertainment  followed  for  an  hour  or  more.  At 
the  close  he  shook  hands  with  every  happy  youngster 
who  sought  him  —  and  few  failed  to  do  it  —  gave  each 
a  cheery  word  and  hearty  handclasp,  and  then  the  little 
ones  scattered,  swarming  along  the  wide  pavements  of 
Broad  Street  till  the  Thanksgiving  promenaders  won- 
dered what  had  broken  loose  and  whence  the  swarms  of 
merry  children  came." 

Sunrise  services  are  held  Easter  and  Christmas  morn- 
ings at  seven  o'clock.  These  beautiful  days  are  ushered 
in  by  a  solemn  prayer  meeting,  spiritual,  uplifting, 
which  seems  to  attune  the  day  to  the  music  of  heavenly 
things,  and  to  send  an  inspiration  into  it  which  glorifies 
every  moment. 

Another  service  very  dear  to  the  members  of  Grace 
Baptist  Church  is  watch  meeting.  The  services  begin 
at  eight  o'clock  l\ew  Year's  Eve  with  a  prayer  meeting 
which  continues  until  about  half  after  nine.  An  inter- 
mission follows  and  usually  a  committee  of  young 
people  serve  light  refreshments  for  those  who  want  them. 
At  eleven  o'clock  the  watch  meeting  begins.  It  is  a 
deeply  spiritual  meeting,  opened  by  the  pastor  with  an 
earnest  prayer  for  guidance  in  the  year  to  come,  for  re- 
newed consecration  to  the  Master's  service,  for  a  better 
and  higher  Christian  life  both  as  individuals  and  a 
church.  Hymns  follow  and  a  brief,  fervid  talk  on  the 
year  coming  and  its  opportunities,  of  the  record  each 


214  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

will  write  on  the  clean  white  page  in  the  book  of  life  to 
be  turned  so  soon.  As  midnight  approaches,  every 
church  member  is  asked  to  signify  his  re-dedication  to 
God  and  His  service  by  standing.  Then  the  solemn 
question  is  put  to  others  present  if  they  do  not  want  to 
give  themselves  to  God,  not  only  for  the  coming  year, 
but  for  all  years.  As  twelve  o'clock  strikes,  all  bow  in 
silent  prayer  while  the  organ,  under  the  pastor's  touch, 
softly  breathes  a  sacred  melody. 

A  few  minutes  later  the  meeting  adjourns,  "  Happy 
"New  Years "  are  exchanged,  and  the  church  orches- 
tra on  the  iron  balcony  over  the  great  half  rose  window 
on  Broad  Street  breaks  into  music. 

Sometimes  an  audience  of  a  thousand  people  gather 
on  the  street  to  listen  to  this  musical  sermon,  preached 
at  the  parting  of  the  ways,  a  eulogy  and  a  prophecy. 
A  writer  in  the  "  Philadelphia  Press  "  relates  the  fol- 
lowing incident  in  connection  with  a  watch  meeting  ser- 
vice: 

"  For  the  last  half  hour  of  the  old  and  the  first  half 
hour  of  the  new  year  the  band  played  sacred  melodies 
to  the  delight  of  not  less  than  a  thousand  people  assem- 
bled on  the  street.  Diagonally  across  Broad  Street  and 
a  short  distance  below  the  church  is  the  residence  of  the 
late  James  E.  Cooper,  P.  T.  Barnum's  former  partner, 
the  millionaire  circus  proprietor.  He  had  been  ailing 
for  months  and  on  this  night  he  lay  dying. 

"  Although  not  a  member  he  had  always  taken  a  per- 
sonal interest  in  Grace  Church,  and  one  of  his  last  acts 
was  the  gift  of  $1,000  to  the  building  fund.  On  this 
night  the  first  on  which  The  Temple  balcony  had  been 
used  for  its  specially  designed  -purpose,  among  the  last 
of  earthly  sounds  that  were  borne  to  the  ears  of  the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  215 

dying  man  was  the  music  of  '  Coronation  '  and  '  Old 
Hundred,' —  hymns  that  he  had  learned  in  childhood. 
The  watch  meeting  closed  and  from  a  scene  of  thanks- 
giving and  congratulation  Eev,  Mr.  Conwell  hurried  to 
the  house  of  mourning,  where  he  remained  at  the  bed- 
side of  the  stricken  husband  and  father  until  the  morn- 
ing light  of  earth  came  to  the  living  and  the  morning  of 
eternity  to  the  dying," 

Sacred  music  on  the  balcony  at  midnight  also  ushers 
in  Christmas  and  Easter.  "  On  the  street,  long  before  the 
hour,  the  crowds  gather  waiting  in  reverent  silence  for 
the  opening  of  the  service,"  writes  Burdette,  in  "  Tem- 
ple and  Templars."  "  The  inspiring  strains  of  '  the 
English  Te  Deum,'  '  Coronation,'  rise  on  the  starlit 
night,  thrilling  eveiy  soul  and  suggesting  in  its  triumph- 
ant measures,  tlie  lines  of  Perronet's  immortal  hymn 
made  sacred  by  a  thousand  associations  — '  All  hail  the 
power  of  Jesus'  ISTame.'  "  "  This  greeting  of  the  Resur- 
rection, as  it  floats  out  over  Monument  Cemetery  just 
opposite,  where  sleep  so  many  thousands,  does  seem  like 
an  assurance  sent  anew  from  above,  .cheering  those  who 
sleep  in  Jesug.,  telling  them  that  as  their  Lord  and  King 
had  risen,  and  now  lives  again,  so  shall  they  live  also. 
Men  looked  at  the  graves  of  them  that  slept,  listened 
to  the  song  of  triumph  that  was  making  the  midnight 
glorious,  remembered  the  risen  Christ  who  was  the 
theme  of  the  song,  thought  of  that  other  midnight, 
the  riven  tomb,  the  broken  power  of  Death  a  conquered 
conqueror,  and  seemed  to  hear  the  Victor's  proclama- 
tion as  the  apostle  of  the  Apocalj^Dse  heard  it,  pealing 
like  a  trumpet  voice  over  all  the  earth,  '  I  am  the  first 
and  the  last:    I  am  He  that  liveth  and  was  dead;  and 


216  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

beliold,  I  am  alive  forevermore ;  Amen ;  and  have  the 
keys  of  hell  and  death !  ' 

"  The  music  continues,  the  band  playing  '  The 
Gloria,'  '  The  Heavens  are  Telling,'  '  The  Palms  ' ;  now 
and  then  the  listeners  join  in  singing  as  the  airs  are 
more  familiar,  and  *  Wliat  a  Friend  we  Have  in  Jesus,' 
*  Whiter  than  Snow,'  '  Just  as  I  Am,'  and  other  hymns 
unite  many  of  the  audience  on  the  crowded  streets 
about  The  Temple  in  a  volunteer  choir,  and  when  the 
doxology,  '  Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow,' 
closes  the  service,  hundreds  of  voices  swell  the  volume 
of  melody  that  greets  the  Easter  morning." 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

A  TYPICAL  PRAYER  MEETING. 

The  Prayer  Meeting  Hall.  How  the  Meeting  is  Conducted.  The 
Giving  of  Favorite  Bible  Verses.  Requests  for  Prayer.  The 
Lookout  Committee. 

THE  prayer  meetings  of  Grace  Baptist  Cliiirch  are 
characterized  by  a  cheery,  homelike  atmosphere 
that  appeals  forcibly  and  at  one©  to  any  one  who 
may  chance  to  enter,  inclining  him  to  stay  and  enjoy 
the  service,  be  he  the  utmost  stranger. 

But  underneath  this  and  soon  felt,  is  the  deep  spirit- 
ual significance  of  the  meeting,  which  lays  hold  on 
men's  hearts,  inspiring,  uplifting,  sending  them  home 
with  a  sense  of  having  "  walked  with  God  "  for  a  little 
while. 

The  large  prayer  meeting  hall  is  usually  crowded, 
the  attendance  including  not  only  members  of  the  church 
but  hundreds  who  are  not  members  of  any  church.  It 
is  no  unusual  sight  to  see  all  the  various  rooms  of  the 
Lower  Temple  thrown  into  one  by  the  raising  of  the 
sashes,  and  this  vast  floor  pacls;ed  as  densely  as  possible, 
while  a  fringe  of  stand ers  lines  the  edges.  People  will 
come  to  these  prayer  meetings  though  they  cannot  see 
the  platform,  though  they  must  lose  much  of  what  is 
said.  B'ut  the  spirit  of  the  meeting  flows  into  their 
hearts  and  minds,  sending  them  home  happier,  and  with 

217 


218  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

a  strengthened  determination  to  live  a  more  righteous 
life. 

Frequently  Dr.  Conwell  arrives  ten  or  fifteen  minutes 
before  the  time  for  the  service  to  begin.  As  he  walks 
to  the  platform,  he  stops  and  chats  with  this  one,  shakes 
hands  with  another,  nods  to  many  in  the  audience.  At 
once  all  stiffness  and  formalism  vanish.  It  is  a  home, 
a  gathering  of  brothers  and  sisters.  It  is  the  meeting 
together  of  two  or  three  in  His  name,  as  in  the  old 
apostolic  days,  though  these  two  or  three  are  now 
counted  by  the  hundreds. 

When  Dr.  Conwell  thus  arrives  early,  the  time  is 
passed  in  singing.  Often  he  utilizes  these  few  minutes 
to  learn  new  hymns.  So  that  when  the  real  prayer 
meeting  is  in  prograss,  there  will  be  no  blundering 
through  new  tunes  or  weak-kneed  renditions  of  them. 
The  singing.  Dr.  Conwell  wants  done  with  the  spirit. 
He  will  not  sing  a  verse  if  the  heart  and  mind  cannot 
endorse  it.  After  singing  several  hymns  in  this  earnest, 
prayerful  fashion,  every  one  present  is  fully  in  tune 
for  the  services  to  follow.  Prayer  meeting  opens  with 
a  short,  earnest  prayer.  Then  a  hymn.  It  is  Dr. 
Conwell's  practice  to  have  any  one  call  out  the  number 
of  a  hymn  he  would  like  sung.  And  it  is  no  imusual 
thing  to  hear  a  perfect  chorus  of  numbers  after  Dr. 
Conwell's  "  What  shall  we  sing  ?  " 

A  chapter  from  the  Bible  is  read  and  a  short  talk  on 
it  given.  Then  Dr.  Conwell  says,  "  The  meeting  now  is 
in  your  hands,"  and  sits  down  as  if  he  had  nothing  more 
to  do  with  it.  But  that  subtle  leadership  which  leads 
without  seeming  to  do  so,  is  there  ready  to  guide  and 
direct.  He  never  allows  the  meeting  to  grow  dull  — 
though  it  seldom  exhibits  a  tendency  to  do  so.     If  no 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  219 

one  is  inclined  to  speak,  hjmns  are  sung.  An  interest- 
ing feature,  and  one  that  is  tremendously  helpful  in 
leading  church  members  to  take  part  in  the  prayer 
meeting,  is  the  giving  of  Bible  verses.  It  is  a  frequent 
feature  of  Grace  Church  prayer  meetings.  "  Let  us 
have  verses  of  Scripture,"  or  "  Each  one  give  his  favo- 
rite text,"  Dr.  Conwell  announces.  Immediately  from 
all  parts  of  the  large  room  come  responses.  Some  rise 
to  give  them,  others  recite  them  sitting.  Hundreds  are 
given  some  evenings  in  a  short  space  of  time,  sometimes 
the  speakers  giving  a  bit  of  personal  experience  con- 
nected with  the  verse. 

The  prayer  meetings  are  always  full  of  singing,  often 
of  silent  prayer;  and  never  does  one  end  without  a 
solemn  invitation  to  those  seeking  God  and  wishing  the 
prayers  of  the  church,  to  signify  it  by  rising.  While 
the  request  is  made,  the  audience  is  asked  to  bow  in 
silent  prayer  that  strength  may  be  given  those  who 
want  God's  help  to  make  it  known.  In  the  solemn 
hush,  one  after  another  rises  to  his  feet,  often  as  many 
as  fifty  making  this  silent  appeal  for  strength  to  lead 
a  better  life.  Immediately  Dr.  Conwell  leads  into  an 
eloquent,  heartfelt  prayer  that  those  seeking  the  way 
may  find  it,  that  the  peace  that  passeth  understanding 
may  come  into  their  hearts  and  lives. 

But  Dr.  Conwell  doesn't  let  the  matter  rest  here. 
A  committee  of  church  members  already  appointed  for 
just  such  work,  is  posted  like  sentinels  about  the  prayer 
meeting  room,  ready  to  extend  practical  help  to  those 
who  have  asked  for  the  prayers  of  the  church.  After 
the  services  are  over,  each  one  who  has  risen  is  sought 
out,  by  some  member  of  this  committee,  talked  with 
in  a  friendly,  sympathetic  way,  and  his  name  and  ad- 


220  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

dress  taken.  These  are  given  to  Dr.  Conwell.  If  time 
permits,  he  writes  to  many  of  them.  All  of  them  he 
makes  the  subject  of  personal  prayer. 

Frequently,  before  asking  those  to  rise  who  wish  the 
prayers  of  the  church,  Dr.  Conwell  asks  if  any  one 
wishes  to  request  prayers  for  others.  The  response  to 
this  is  always  large.  A  member  of  the  staff  of  "  The 
Temple  Magazine  "  made  a  note  at  one  prayer  meeting 
of  these  requests  and  published  it  in  the  magazine. 
Three  requests  were  made  for  husbands,  eight  for  sons, 
one  for  a  daughter,  three  for  children,  ten  for  brothers, 
two  for  sisters,  two  for  fathers,  one  for  a  cousin,  one 
for  a  brother-in-law,  four  for  friends,  eleven  for  Sunday 
School  scholars,  one  for  a  Simday  School  class,  four 
for  sick  persons,  two  for  scoffers,  twenty-one  for  sinners, 
four  for  wanderers,  five  for  persons  addicted  to  drink, 
three  for  mission  schools,  five  for  churches  — r  one  that 
was  divided,  another  deeply  in  debt,  another  for  a  sick 
pastor  and  the  other  two  seeking  a  higher  development 
in  godliness. 

As  many  of  these  requests  come  from  church  mem- 
bers, both  pastor  and  people  pay  especial  attention  to 
them  and  practically,  as  well  as  prayerfully,  try  to  reach 
those  for  whom  prayers  are  asked.  In  many  cases  dis- 
tinct answers  to  these  prayers  are  secured,  so  evident 
that  none  could  mistake  them.  At  an  after-service  on 
Sunday  evening  a  mother  asked  prayers  for  a  wayward 
son  in  Chicago.  Dr.  Conwell  and  some  of  the  deacons 
led  the  church  in  prayer  for  the  boy,  very  definitely 
and  in  faith.  At  that  same  hour,  as  the  young  man 
afterward  related,  he  was  passing  a  church  in  Chicago, 
and  felt  strangely  impressed  -to  enter  and  give  his 
heart  to  Christ.     It  was  somethina:  he  had  no  intention 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  221 

of  doing  when  he  left  his  hotel  a  few  minutes  before. 
But  he  went  in,  joined  in  the  meeting,  asked  for  for- 
giveness of  his  sins  and  the  prayers  of  the  church  to 
help  him  lead  a  better  life,  and  accepted  Christ  as  his 
personal  Savior.  In  the  joy  of  his  new  experience,  he 
wrote  his  mother  immediately. 

At  another  prayer  meeting,  Dr.  Conwell  read  a  letter 
from  a  gentleman  requesting  the  prayers  of  the  church 
for  his  little  boy  whom  the  doctors  had  given  up  to 
die.  He  stated  in  the  letter  that  if  God  would  spare 
his  child  in  answer  to  prayer,  he  would  go  anywhere 
and  do  anything  the  Lord  might  direct.  After  reading 
the  letter,  Dr.  Conwell  led  earnestly  in  prayer,  be- 
seeching that  the  child's  life  might  be  saved  since  it 
meant  much  for  the  cause  of  Christ  on  earth.  Several 
members  of  the  church  made  fervent  prayers  for  the 
child,  and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting,  many  expressed 
themselves  as  being  confident  that  their  prayers  would 
be  answered.  At  that  same  hour,  the  disease  turned. 
The  child  has  gro^vn  to  be  a  young  man,  and  with  his 
father  is  a  member  of  Grace  Church. 

Such  direct,  unmistakable  answers  to  prayer 
strengthen  faith,  give  confidence  to  ask  for  prayers 
for  loved  ones,  and  make  it  a  very  earnest,  solemn  part 
of  the  prayer  meeting  service.  Thus  working  and  pray- 
ing, praying  and  working,  the  church  marches  forward. 


CHAPTER  XXYIII 

THE  TEMPLE  COLLEGE 

The  Night  Temple  College  Was  Born.  Its  Simple  Beginning  and 
Rapid  Growth.  Building  the  College.  How  the  Money  was 
Raised.  The  Branches  it  Teaches.  Instances  of  Its  Helpful- 
ness.    Planning  for  greater  Things. 

IK  a  letter  -written  to  a  member  of  his  family,  from 
which  we  quote  the  following,  Dr.  Conwell  tells 
how  the  idea  of  Temple  College  was  bom  in  his 
mind  one  wintry  night. 

"  A  woman,  ragged,  with  an  old  shawl  over  her 
head,  met  me  in  an  alley  in  Philadelphia  late  one 
night.  She  saw  the  basket  on  my  arm,  and  looked 
in  my  face  wistfully,  as  a  dog  looks  up  beside  the 
dinner  table.  She  was  hungry,  and  was  coming  in 
empty.  I  shook  my  head,  and  with  a  peculiarly  sad 
glance  she  turned  down  the  dark  passage.  I  had  found 
several  families  hungry,  and  yet  I  felt  like  a  hypocrite, 
standing  there  with  an  empty  basket,  and  a  woman, 
perhaps  a  mother,  so  pale  for  lack  of  decent  food. 

"  On  the  corner  was  a  church,  stately  and  architec- 
turally beautiful  by  day,  but  after  midnight  it  looked 
like  a  glowering  ogre,  and  looked  so  like  ^Newgate 
Prison,  in  London,  that  I  felt  its  chilly  shadow.  Half 
a  million  cost  the  cemented  pile,  and  under  its  side 
arch  lay  two  newsboys  or  boot-blacks  asleep  on  the  step. 

"  What  is  the  use  ?     "We  cannot  feed  these  people. 

222 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  223 

Give  all  you  have,  and  an  army  of  the  poor  will  still 
have  nothing;  and  those  to  whom  you  do  give  bread 
and  clothes  to-day  will  be  starving  and  naked  to-morrow. 
If  you  care  for  the  few,  the  many  will  curse  you  for 
your  partiality.  While  I  stood  meditating,  the  police 
patrol  drove  along  the  street,  and  I  could  see  by  the 
corner  street  lamp  that  there  were  two  women,  one 
little  girl  and  a  drunken  old  man  in  the  conveyance, 
going  to  jail!     I  could  do  nothing  for  them. 

At  my  door  I  found  a  man  dressed  in  costly  fashion, 
who  had  waited  for  me  outside,  as  he  had  been  told 
that  I  would  come  soon,  and  the  family  had  retired. 
He  said  his  dying  father  had  sent  for  me.  So  I  left 
the  basket  in  a  side  yard  and  went  with  the  mes- 
senger. The  house  was  a  mansion  on  Spring  Garden 
Street.  The  house  was  inelegantly  overloaded  with 
luxurious  furniture,  money  wasted  by  some  inartistic 
purchasers.  The  paintings  were  rare  and  rich.  The 
owners  were  shoddy.  The  family  of  seven  or  eight 
gathered  by  the  bedside  when  I  prayed  for  the  dying 
old  man.  They  were  grief-stricken  and  begged  me 
to  stay  until  his  soul  departed.  It  was  daylight  before  I 
left  the  bedside,  and  as  the  dying  still  showed  that  the 
soul  was  delaying  his  journey,  I  went  into  the  spacious, 
handsome  library.  Seeing  a  rare  book  in  costly  binding 
among  the  volumes  on  a  lower  shelf,  I  opened  the  door 
and  took  it  out.  My  hands  were  black  with  dust,  I 
glanced  then  along  the  rows  and  rows  of  valuable  books, 
and  noticed  the  dust  of  months  or  years.  The  family 
were  not  students  or  readers.  On©  son  was  in  the  Al- 
bany Penitentiary;  another  a  fugitive  in  Canada.  At 
the  funeral,  afterwards,  the  wife  and  daughter  from 
!N^ewport  were  present,  and  their  tears  made  furrows 


224  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

througli  the  paint.  Those  rich  people  were  strangely 
poor,  and  a  book  on  a  side  table  on  the  '  Abolition  of 
Poverty '  seemed  to  be  in  the  right  place. 

"  That  night  was  conceived  the  Temple  College  idea. 
It  was  no  new  truth,  no  original  invention,  but  merely  a 
simpler  combination  of  old  ideas.  There  was  but  one 
general  remedy  for  all  these  ills  of  poor  and  rich, 
and  that  could  only  be  found  in  a  more  useful  educa- 
tion. Poverty  semed  to  me  to  be  wholly  that  of  the 
mind.  Want  of  food,  or  clothing,  or  home,  or  friends, 
or  morals,  or  religion,  seemed  to  be  the  lack  of  the  right 
instruction  and  proper  discipline.  The  truly  wis&  man 
need  not  lack  the  necessities  of  life,  the  wisely  educated 
man  or  woman  will  get  out  of  the  dirty  alley  and  will 
not  get  dnink  or  go  to  jail.  It  seemed  to  me  then  that 
the  only  great  charity  was  in  giving  instruction. 

"  The  first  class  to  be  considered  was  the  destitute 
poor.  K"ot  one  in  a  thousand  of  those  living  in  rags 
on  crusts  would  remain  in  poverty  if  he  had  education 
enough  of  the  right  kind  to  earn  a  better  living  by 
making  himself  more  useful.  He  is  poor  because  he 
does  not  know  any  better.  Knowledge  is  both  wealth 
and  power. 

"  The  next  class  who  stand  in  need  of  the  assistance 
love  wishes  to  give  is  the  great  mass  of  industrious 
people  of  all  grades,  who  are  earning  something,  who 
are  not  cold  or  hungry,  but  who  should  earn  more  in 
order  to  secure  the  greater  necessities  of  life  in  order 
to  be  happy.  They  could  be  so  much  more  useful  if 
they  knew  how.  To  learn  how  to  do  more  work  in 
the  same  time,  or  how  to  do  much  better  work,  is  the 
only  true  road  to  riches  which. the  owner  can  enjoy. 

"  To  help  a  man  to  help  himself  is  the  wisest  effort 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  225 

of  human  love.  To  have  wealth  and  to  have  honestly- 
earned  it  all,  by  labor,  skill  or  wisdom,  is  an  object  of 
ambition  worthy  of  the  highest  and  best.  Hence,  to 
do  the  most  good  to  the  great  classes,  rich  or  poor,  we 
must  labor  industriously.  The  lover  of  his  kind  must 
furnish  them  with  the  means  of  gaining  knowledge  while 
they  work. 

"  Then  there  was  a  third  class  of  mankind,  starving, 
with  their  tables  breaking  with  luscious  foods,  cold  in 
warehouses  of  ready-made  clothing  of  the  most  costly 
fabrics;  seeing  not  in  the  moon-light,  and  restless  to 
distraction  on  beds  of  eiderdown.  They  do  not  know 
the  use  or  value  of  things.  They  are  harassed  with 
plenty  they  cannot  appropriate.  They  are  doubly  poor. 
They  need  education.  The  library  is  a  care,  an  expense 
and  a  disgrace  to  the  owner  who  cannot  read.  To  give 
education  to  those  in  the  possession  of  properts^  which 
they  might  use  for  the  help  of  humanity  and  which 
they  might  enjoy,  is  as  clear  a  duty  and  charity  as  it 
is  to  help  the  beggar.  And,  indeed,  indirectly  the 
education  of  tlie  unwise  wealthy  to  become  useful  may 
be  the  most  practical  way  of  raising  the  poor.  There 
is  a  need  for  every  dollar  of  the  nation's  property,  and 
it  should  be  invested  by  men  whose  minds  and  hearts 
have  been  trained  to  see  the  human  need  and  to  love  to 
satisfy  it 

"  The  thought  that  in  education  of  the  best  quality 
was  to  be  foimd  the  remedy  for  hunger,  loneliness, 
crime  and  weakness  was  most  clearly  emphasized  to 
my  mind  by  the  coming  of  two  young  men  who  had 
felt  the  need  from  the  under  side.  They  had  received 
but  little  instruction ;  they  were  over  twenty  years  of 
age,  and  they  wished  to  enter  the  ministry.     Was  there 


226  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

any  way  open  for  a  poor,  industrious  laborer  to  get  the 
highest  education  while  he  supported  his  mother,  sister 
and  himself?  I  urged  them  to  try  it  for  the  good  of 
many  who  would  follow  them  if  they  made  it  a  clear 
success.  I  was  elated  almost  to  uncontrollable  enthu- 
siasm the  night  they  came  to  my  study  to  begin  their 
course.  They  brought  five  with  them,  and  all  proved 
themselves  noble  men.  One  is  not,  for  God  took  him. 
But  the  others  are  moulding  and  inspiring  their  world." 

Thus  was  conceived  the  idea  of  the  institution  that 
is  now  educating  annually  three  thousand  men  and 
women.  The  need  for  it  has  been  plainly  proven. 
Kev.  Forest  Dager,  at  one  time  Dean  of  Temple  College, 
said  in  regard  to  the  people  who  in  later  life  crave 
opportunities  for  study: 

"  That  the  Temple  College  idea  of  educating  working 
men  and  working  women,  at  an  expense  just  sufficient 
to  give  them  an  appreciation  of  the  work  of  the  Insti- 
tution, covers  a  wide  and  long-neglected  field  of  educa- 
tional effort,  is  at  once  apparent  to  a  thoughtful  mind, 
liemembering  that  out  of  a  total  enrollment  in  the 
schools  of  our  land  of  all  grades,  public  and  private, 
of  14,512,778  pupils,  OG^/o  per  cent  are  reported  as 
receiving  elementary  instruction  only ;  that  not  more 
than  35  in  1,000  attend  school  after  they  are  fourteen 
years  of  age;  that  25  of  these  drop  out  during  the  next 
four  years  of  their  life ;  that  less  than  10  in  1,000 
pass  on  to  enjoy  the  superior  instruction  of  a  college  or 
some  equivalent  grade  of  work,  we  begin  to  see  the  un- 
limited field  before  an  Institution  like  this.  Thousands 
upon  thousands  of  those  who  have  left  school  quite 
early  in  life,  either  because  they  did  not  appreciate 
the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education,  or  because  the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  227 

stress  of  circumstances  compelled  them  to  assist  in 
tlie  maintenance  of  home,  awake  a  few  years  later  to 
the  realization  that  a  good  education  is  more  than  one- 
half  the  struggle  for  existence  and  position.  Their 
time  through  the  day  is  fully  occupied ;  their  evenings 
are  free.  At  once  they  turn  to  the  evening  college, 
and  grasping  the  opportunities  for  instruction,  convert 
those  hours  which  to  many  are  the  pathway  to  vice 
and  ruin,  into  stepping  stones  to  a  higher  and  more 
useful  career.  .  .  .  An  illustration  of  the  wide- 
reaching  influence  of  the  College  work  is  tlie  sigTiificant 
fact  that  during  one  year  there  were  personally  known 
to  the  president,  no  less  than  ninety-three  persons  pur- 
suing their  studies  in  various  universities  of  our  coun- 
try, who  received  their  first  impulses  toward  a  higher 
education  and  a  wider  usefulness  in  Temple  College." 

In  1893,  in  an  address  on  the  Institutional  church, 
delivered  before  the  Baptist  Ministers'  Conference  in 
Philadelphia,  Dr.  Conwell  said: 

"  At  the  present  time  there  are  in  this  city  hundreds 
of  thousands  —  to  speak  conservatively,  (I  should  say 
at  least  five,  hundred  thousand  people)  who  have  not 
the  education  they  certainly  wish  they  had  obtained 
liefore  leaving  school.  There  are  at  least  one  hundred 
thousand  people  in  this  city  willing  to  sacrifice  their 
evenings  and  some  of  their  sleep  to  get  an  education, 
if  they  can  get  it  without  the  humiliation  of  being  put 
into  classes  with  boys  and  girls  six  years  old.  They 
are  in  every  city.  There  is  a  large  class  of  young 
people  who  have  reached  that  age  where  they  find  they 
have  made  a  mistake  in  not  getting  a  better  education. 
If  they  could  obtain  one  now,  in  a  proper  way,  they 


228  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

would.     Tlie  university  does  not  furnish  sucH  an  oppor- 
tunity.    The  public  school  does  not. 

"  The  churches  must  institute  schools  for  those  whom 
the  public  does  not  educate,  and  must  educate  them 
along  the  lines  the^  cannot  reach  in  the  public  schools. 

"  We  are  not  to  withdraw  our  support  from,  nor  to 
antagonize,  the  public  schools ;  they  are  the  foundations 
of  liberty  in  the  nation.  But  the  public  schools  do  not 
teach  many  things  which  young  men  and  young  women 
need.  I  believe  every  church  should  institute  classes 
for  the  education  of  such  people,  and  I  believe  the 
Institutional  church  will  require  it.  I  believe  every 
evening  in  the  week  should  be  given  to  some  particular 
kind  of  intellectual  training  along  some  educational  line ; 
that  this  training  should  begin  with  the  more  evident 
needs  of  the  young  people  in  each  congregation,  and 
then  be  adjusted  as  the  matter  grows,  to  the  wants 
of  each." 

So,  because  one  poor  boy  struggled  so  bitterly  for  an 
education,  because  a  man,  keen-eyed,  saw  others'  needs, 
reading  the  signs  by  the  light  of  his  own  bitter  ex- 
perience, a  great  College  for  busy  men  and  women  has 
gro\vn,  to  give  them  freely  the  education  which  is  very 
bread  and  meat  to  their  minds. 

Most  people  use  for  their  own  benefit  the  lessons  they 
have  learned  in  the  hard  school  of  experience.  They 
have  paid  for  them  dearly.  They  endeavor  to  get  out 
of  them  what  profit  they  can.  N'ot  so  Dr.  Conwell. 
He  uses  his  dearly  bought  experiences  for  the  good  of 
others,  turning  the  bitterness  which  he  endured,  into 
sweetness  for  their  refreshment. 

The  Temple  College  was  founded,  as  was  stated  in 
its  first  catalogue,  for  the  purpose  "  of  opening  to  the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  229 

burdened  and  circumscribed  manual  laborer,  tlie  doors 
through  which  he  may,  if  he  will,  reach  the  fields  of 
profitable  and  influential  professional  life, 

"  Of  enabling  the  working  man,  whose  labor  has  been 
largely  with  his  muscles,  to  double  his  skill  through  the 
helpful  suggestions  of  a  cultivated  mind. 

"  Of  providing  such  instruction  as  shall  be  best 
adapted  to  the  higher  education  of  those  who  are  com- 
pelled to  labor  at  their  trades  while  engaged  in  study, 
or  who  desire  while  studying  to  remain  under  the  in- 
fluence of  their  home  or  church. 

"  Of  awakening  in  the  character  of  young  laboring 
men  and  women  a  strong  and  determined  ambition  to  be 
useful  to  their  fellow-men. 

"  Of  cultivating  such  a  taste  for  the  higher  and  most 
useful  branches  of  learning  as  shall  compel  the  students, 
after  they  have  left  the  college,  to  continue  to  pursue 
the  best  and  most  practical  branches  of  learning  to  the 
very  highest  walks  of  mental  and  scientific  achieve- 
ment." 

A  broad,  humanitarian  purpose.it  is,  one  that  grew 
out  of  tlie  heart  of  a  man  who  loved  humanity,  who 
believed  in  the  practical  application  of  the  teachings  of 
Christ,  who  knew  a  cause  would  succeed  if  it  filled  a 
need. 

Dr.  Conwell's  own  experience,  his  observations  of 
life  had  told  him  that  this  great  need  existed,  but  it 
was  brought  home  to  him  practically  in  1884,  when 
these  two  young  men  of  whom  he  speaks  in  the  letter 
quoted  came  to  him  and  said  they  wanted  to  study  for 
the  ministry  but  had  no  money.  His  mind  leaped  the 
years  to  those  boyhood  days  when  he  longed  for  an  edu- 
cation but  had  no  money.     He  fixed  an  evening  and 


230  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

told  tliem  he  would  teach  them  himself.  Wlien  the 
night  came,  the  two  had  become  seven.  The  third  even- 
ing, the  seven  had  grown  to  forty.  It  was  in  the  days 
when  pastor  and  people  were  working  hard  for  their 
new  church  and  his  hands  were  full.  Bnt  he  did  not 
shirk  this  new  task  that  came  to  him.  Forty  people 
eager  to  study,  anxious  to  broaden  their  mental  vision, 
to  make  their  lives  more  useful,  could  not  be  disap- 
pointed, most  assuredly  not  by  a  man  who  had  known 
this  hunger  of  the  mind.  Teachers  were  secured  who 
gave  their  services  free,  the  lower  parts  of  the  church 
where  they  were  then  worshipping  at  Berks  and  Mervine 
streets  were  used  as  class  rooms  and  the  work  went  for- 
ward with  vigor. 

The  first  catalogue  was  issued  in  1887,  and  the  insti- 
tution chartered  in  1888,  at  which  time  there  were  five 
hundred  and  ninety  students.  The  College  overflowed 
the  basement  of  the  church  into  two  adjoining  houses. 
When  The  Temple  was  completed  the  College  occupied 
the  whole  building.  Wlien  that  was  filled  it  moved  into 
two  large  houses  on  Park  Avenue.  Still  growing,  it 
rented  two  large  halls. 

The  news  that  The  Temple  College  had  enlarged 
quarters  in  these  halls  brought  such  a  flood  of  students 
that  almost  from  the  start  applicants  were  turned  away. 
ISTothing  was  to  be  done  but  to  build.  It  was  a  serious 
problem.  The  church  itself  had  but  just  been  com- 
pleted and  a  heavy  debt  of  $250,000  hung  over  it.  To 
add  the  cost  of  a  college  to  this  burden  of  debt  required 
faith  of  the  highest  order,  work  of  the  hardest.  But 
God  had  shown  them  their  work  and  they  could  not 
shirk  it. 

"  For  seven  years  I  have  felt  a  firm  conviction  that 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  231 

the  great  work,  the  special  duty  of  our  church,  is  to 
establish  the  College,"  said  Dr.  Conwell,  in  speaking  of 
the  matter  to  his  congregation.  "  We  are  now  face  to 
face  with  it.  How  distinctly  we  have  been  led  of  God 
to  this  point  I  Never  before  in  the  history  of  this 
nation  have  a  people  had  committed  to  them  a  movement 
more  important  for  the  welfare  of  mankind  than  that 
which  is  now  committed  to  your  trust  in  connection 
with  the  permanent  establishment  of  The  Temple  Col- 
lege. We  step  now  over  the  brink.  Our  feet  are 
already  in  the  water,  and  God  says,  '  Go  on,  it  shall 
be  dryshod  for  you  yet ' ;  and  I  say  that  the  success  of 
this  institution  means  otliers  like  it  in  every  town  of 
five  thousand  inhabitants  in  the  United  States." 

"  One  thing  we  have  demonstrated  —  those  who  work 
for  a  living  have  time  to  study.  Some  splendid  speci- 
mens of  scholarship  have  been  developed  in  our  work. 
And  there  are  others,  splendid  geniuses,  'yet  undiscov- 
ered, biTt  The  Temple  College  will  bring  them  to  the 
light,  and  the  world  will  be  the  richer  for  it.  By  the 
use  of  spare  hours  —  hours  usually  nmning  to  waste 
—  great  things  can  be  done.  The  commendation  of 
these  successful  students  will  do  more  for  the  college 
than  any  number  of  rich  friends  can  do.  It  will  make 
friends ;  it  will  bring  money ;  it  will  win  honor ;  it  will 
secure  success." 

An  investment  fund  was  created  and  once  more  the 
people  made  their  oiferings.  The  same  self-sacrificing 
spirit  was  evident  as  in  the  building  of  the  church. 
One  boy  brought  to  the  pastor  fifty  cents,  the  first  money 
he  had  ever  earned;  a  woman  sent  to  the  treasury  a 
gold  ring,  the  only  gift  she  could  make,  which  bore 
interest  in  the  suggestion  that  all  who  chose  might  offer 


232  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

similar  gifts  as  did  the  women  in  the  day  of  IMoses. 
A  business  man  hearing  of  this  said,  "  If  a  day  is  ap- 
pointed, I  will  on  that  day  give  to  the  College  all  the 
gold  and  silver  that  comes  into  my  store  for  purchases." 
Every  organization  of  Grace  Church  contributed  time, 
work,  money,  and  prayer  to  the  building  of  the  College. 
Small  wonder  then  that  obligations  were  met  and  pay- 
ments made  promptly. 

One  of  the  most  successful  methods  by  which  money 
was  raised  for  the  College  was  the  "  Penny  Talent " 
effort  in  1893.  Burdette,  in  his  "  Temple  and  Tem- 
plars "  has  made  a  most  painstaking  record  of  the 
various  ways  in  which  the  talent  was  used.     He  says : 

"  Each  worker  was  given  a  penny,  no  more.  Eour 
thousand  were  given  out  at  one  service.  One  man  put 
his  penny  in  a  neat  box,  took  it  to  his  office,  and  ex- 
hibited his  ^  talent '  at  a  nickel  a  '  peep.'  He  gained 
$1.Y0  the  first  day  of  his  '  show.'  A  woman  bought 
a  *  job  lot '  of  molasses  with  her  penny,  made  it  into 
molasses  candy,  sold  it  in  square  inch  cakes,  after  telling 
the  customer  her  story;  payments  were  generous  and 
she  netted  $1.80.  Then  the  man  who  sold  her  the 
molasses  returned  her  penny.  Another  sister  estab- 
lished a  *  cooky  '  business,  which  grew  rapidly.  One 
boy  kept  his  penny  and  went  to  work,  earned  50  cents, 
the  first  money  he  ever  earned  in  his  life.  It  was  a 
big  penny,  but  he  was  bubbling  over  with  enthusiasm 
and  in  it  all  went;  he  brought  it  straight  to  his  pastor. 
One  worker  collected  autographs  and  sold  them.  A  boy 
sold  toothpicks.  One  young  man  made  silver  button- 
hooks and  a  young  lady  sold  them.  A  woman  traded 
her  penny  up  to  a  dollar,  made  aprons  from  that  time 
on  until  she  earned  $10.     One  class  of  seven  girls  in 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  233 

the  Sunday-school  imited  its  capital  and  gave  a  snp- 
per  at  the  Park  and  netted  $50.  The  Young  Men's 
Bible  Class  constructed  a  model  of  the  College  building, 
which  they  exhibited.  The  children  gave  a  supper  in 
the  Lower  Temple,  which  added  $100  to  the  College 
fund.  There  came  into  the  treasury  $1.00  '  saved  on 
car-fares  ' ;  ^  whitewashing  a  cellar  '  brought  $3.  Thrice, 
somebody  walked  from  Germantown  to  The  Temple  and 
back,  saving  75  cents ;  a  wife  saved  $20  from  house- 
hold allowances.  A  little  girl  of  seven  years  went  into 
a  lively  brokerage  business  with  her  penny,  and  took 
several  '  flyers '  that  netted  her  handsome  margins. 
Here  is  her  report  — 

"  '  Sold  the  "  talent  penny  "  to  Aunt  Libby  for  seven 
cents ;  sold  the  seven  cents  to  Mamma  for  25  cents ; 
sold  the  25  cx3nts  to  Papa  for  50  cents.  Aunt  Caddie, 
10  cents;  Uncle  Gilman,  5  cents;  Cousin  Walter,  4 
cents ;  cash,  25  cents, —  $1.04  and  the  penny  talent 
returned.' 

"  '  Pinching  the  market-basket '  sent  in  $2.50  ;  '  all 
the  pennies  and  nickels  received  in  four  months, 
$12.70  ' ;  '  walking  instead  of  riding,  $6.50  ' ;  '  singing 
and  making  plaster  plaques,  $7.'  A  dentist  bought  of 
a  fellow  dentist  one  cent's  worth  of  cement  filling- 
material  ;  this  he  used,  giving  his  labor,  and  earned  50 
cents;  with  this  he  bought  50  cents'  worth  of  better 
filling,  part  of  which  he  used,  again  giving  his  labor, 
and  the  College  gained  $3.00.  A  boy  sold  his  penny 
to  a  physician  for  a  dollar.  The  physician  sold  the 
'  talent  penny '  for  10  cents,  which  he  exchanged  at 
the  Mint  for  bright  new  pennies.  These  he  took  to 
business  friends  and  got  a  dollar  apiece  for  them ; 
added  $5.00  of  his  own  and  turned  in  $15.00.     Dona- 


234  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

tions  of  one  cent  each  were  received  through  Mr.  Wil- 
liam P.  Harding,  from  Governor  Tillman  of  South 
Carolina,  Governor  McKinley  of  Ohio,  Governor  Rus- 
sell of  Massachusetts.  Prom  Governor  Fuller  of  Ver- 
mont —  a  rare  old  copper  cent,  1782,  coined  by 
Vermont  before  she  was  admitted  to  the  Union ;  the 
governors'  letters  were  sold  to  the  highest  bidders. 
Everybody  who  worked,  everybody  who  traded  with  the 
penny,  did  something,  and  every  penny  was  blessed, 
so  lovingly  and  so  zealously  was  the  trading  done.  It 
was  the  Master's  talent  which  they  were  working  with. 
All  the  little  things  that  went  into  the  treasury ;  lead 
pencils,  tacks,  $3.00  in  one  case  and  $5.00  in  another; 
'beef's  liver,  $14.00 '—think  of  that!  How  tired 
the  boarders  must  have  grown  of  liver  away  out  on 
Broad  Street  —  stick  pins,  hairpins,  and  the  common 
kind  that  you  bend  and  lose ;  candy,  pretzels,  and  cook- 
ies ;  '  old  tin  cans,'  wooden  spoons,  pies ;  one  man  sent 
$50.00  as  a  gift  because  he  said  '  his  penny  had  brought 
him  luck ' ;  another  found  16  pennies,  which  good  for- 
tune he  ascribed  to  the  penny  in  his  pocket. 

"  So  in  October  the  workers  who  had  received  their 
pennies  in  April  came  together  to  show  what  they  had 
done.  Four  thousand  pennies  had  been  given  out; 
$6,000  came  directly  from  the  returns,  and  indirectly 
about  $8,000  more. 

"  The  '  Feast  of  Tithes,'  held  in  December  of  the 
same  year,  was  a  great  fair,  extending  through  seven 
week  days.  The  displays  of  goods  and  the  refreshment 
booths  were  in  the  Lower  Temple,  while  fine  concerts 
and  other  entertainments  were  given  in  the  auditorium. 
The  Feast  of  Tithes  netted  ^5,500  for  the  College 
fund." 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  235 

Thus  the  work  progressed.  Xo  one  could  give  large 
amounts,  but  many  gave  a  little,  and  stone  by  stone  the 
building  grew.  In  August,  1893,  the  comer  stone  of 
the  College  building  was  laid.  Taking  up  the  silver 
trowel  which  had  been  used  in  laying  the  corner  stone 
of  The  Temple,  in  1880,  Dr.  Conwell  said: 

"  Friends,  to-day  we  do  something  more  than  simply 
lay  the  corner  stone  of  a  college  building.  We  do 
an  act  here  very  simply  that  shows  to  the  world,  and 
will  go  on  testifying  after  we  have  gone  to  our  long 
rest,  that  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  only  an  in- 
stitution of  theory,  but  an  institution  of  practice.  It 
will  stand  here  upon  this  great  and  broad  street  and 
say  through  the  coming  years  to  all  passersby,  '  Chris- 
tianity means  something  for  the  good  of  humanity; 
Christianity  means  not  only  a  belief  in  things  that  are 
good  and  pure  and  righteous,  but  it  also  means  an 
activity  that  shall  bless  those  who  need  the  assistance 
of  others.'  It  shall  say  to  the  rich  man,  '  Give  thou 
of  thy  surplus  to  those  who  have  not.'  It  shall  say 
to  the  poor  man,  ^  Make  thou  the  most  of  thy  oppor- 
tunities and  thou  shalt  be  the  equal  of  the  rich.' 

"  ISTow,  in  the  name  of  the  people  who  have  given 
for  this  enterprise,  in  the  name  of  the  many  Christians 
who  have  prayed,  and  who  are  now  sending  up  their 
prayers  to  heaven,  I  lay  this  corner  stone." 

The  work  went  on.  In  May,  1894,  a  great  congrega- 
tion thronged  The  Temple  to  attend  the  dedication 
services  of  "  Temple  College,"  for  it  was  in  its  new 
home ;  a  handsome  building,  presenting  with  The  Tem- 
ple a  beautiful  stone  front  of  two  hundred  feet  on  the 
broad  avenue  which  it  faces.  Eobert  E.  Pattison, 
governor  of  Pennsylvania,  presided,  saying,  in  his  in- 


236  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

troductory  remarks,  "  Around  this  noble  city  many 
institutions  have  arisen  in  the  cause  of  education,  but 
I  doubt  whether  any  of  them  will  possess  a  greater 
influence  for  good  than  Temple  College."  Bishop 
Foss,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  offered 
prayer.  The  orator  was  Honorable  Charles  Emory 
Smith,  of  Philadelphia,  ex-minister  to  Russia.  Mr. 
James  Johnson,  the  builder,  gave  the  keys  to  the  archi- 
tect, Mr.  Thomas  P.  Lonsdale,  who  delivered  them  to 
the  pastor  of  Grace  Church  and  president  of  Temple 
College,  remarking  that  "  it  was  well  these  keys  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  those  who  already  held  the  keys  to 
the  inner  temple  of  knowledge." 

President  Conwell,  receiving  the  keys,  said  that,  "  by 
united  effort,  penny  by  penny,  and  dollar  by  dollar, 
every  note  had  been  paid,  every  financial  obligation 
promptly  met.  It  is  a  demonstration  of  what  people 
can  do  when  thoroughly  in  earnest  in  a  -great  enter- 
prise." 

Academies  were  also  started  in  distant  parts  of  the 
city  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  could  not  reach  the 
college  in  time  for  classes.  Unfortunately  these  acade- 
mies were  compelled  to  close  on  account  of  lack  of 
funds.  Many  pitiful  letters  were  received  at  the  col- 
lege from  those  who  were  thus  shut  out  of  educational 
advantages.  One  in  particular,  poorly  spelled  but 
breathing  its  bitter  disappointment,  said  that  the  writer 
(a  woman)  was  just  beginning  to  hope  she  would  get 
her  head  above  water  some  day.  But  that  now  she 
must  sink  again.  A  little  light  had  begun  to  glimmer 
for  her  through  the  blackness,  but  that  light  had  been 
taken  away.  She  was  going  down  again  into  the  depth 
of  hopeless  ignorance  with  no  one  to  lend  a  helping 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  237 

hand  —  the  tragedy  of  which  Carljle  wrote  when  he 
penned  "  That  there  should  be  one  man  die  ignorant  who 
is  capable  of  knowledge,  this  I  call  a  tragedy." 

The  College  at  first  was  entirely  free,  but  as  the  at- 
tendance increased,  it  was  found  necessary  to  charge  a 
nominal  tuition  fee  in  order  to  keep  out  those  who  had 
no  serious  desire  to  study,  but  came  irregularly  "  just 
for  the  fun  of  the  thing."  When  it  was  decided  to 
charge  five  dollars  a  year  for  the  privilege  of  attending 
the  evening  classes,  the  announcement  was  received  with 
the  unanimous  approbation  of  the  students  who  hon- 
estly wished  to  study,  and  who  more  than  any  others 
were  hindered  by  the  aimless  element. 

ISTot  only  did  the  poor  and  those  who  were  employed 
during  the  day  come,  but  before  long  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  well-to-do  were  knocking  at  the  doors, 
not  for  admission  to  the  evening  classes  but  for  day 
study.  So  the  day  department  was  opened.  Not  only 
has  it  proved  most  successful  in  its  work,  but  it  has 
helped  the  College  to  meet  expenses. 

The  curriculum  of  the  College  is  broad.  A  child 
just  able  to  walk  can  enter  the  kindergarten  class  in 
the  day  department  and  receive  his  entire  schooling 
under  the  one  roof,  graduating  with  a  college  degree, 
taking  a  special  university  course,  or  fitting  himself 
for  business. 

Four  university  courses  are  given  —  theology,  law, 
medicine,  pharmacy.  The  Medical  and  Theological 
Departments  take  students  to  their  gi'aduation  and 
upon  presentation  of  their  diploma  before  the  State 
Board  they  are  admitted  to  the  State  Examination. 
The  Theological  Course,  of  course,  graduates  a  man 
the  same  as  any  other  theological  seminary. 


238  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

Post-graduate  courses  are  also  given. 

The  college  courses  include  —  arts,  science,  elocution 
and  oratory,  business,  music,  civil  engineering,  physical 
education.  The  graduates  of  the  college  course  are 
admitted  to  the  post-graduate  courses  of  Pennsylvania, 
Yale,  Princeton  and  Harvard  on  their  diplomas.  Stu- 
dents pass  from  any  year's  work  of  the  college  course 
to  the  corresponding  course  of  other  Institutions. 

The  preparatory  courses  are  college  preparatory,  med- 
ical preparatory,  scientific  preparatory,  law  prepara- 
tory, an  English  course  and  a  business  preparatory 
course.  Thus,  if  one  is  not  ready  to  enter  one  of  the 
higher  courses,  he  can  prepare  here  by  night  study  for 
them. 

The  Business  Course  includes  a  commercial  course, 
shorthand  course,  secretarial  course,  conveyancing 
course,  telegraphy  course,  advertisement  writing  and 
proofreading. 

There  are  nonnal  courses  for  kindergarteners  and  ele- 
mentary teachers,  and  in  household  science,  physical 
training,  music,  millinery,  dressmaking,  elocution  and 
oratory. 

Special  courses  are  given  in  civil  engineering,  chem- 
istry, elocution  and  oratory,  painting  and  drawing,  sign 
writing,  mechanical  and  architectural  drawing,  music, 
physical  training,  dressmaking,  millineiy,  cooking,  em- 
broidery, and  nursing,  the  last  being  given  at  the 
Samaritan  Hospital. 

All  of  these  courses,  excepting  the  l^ormal  Kinder- 
garten, can  be  studied  day  or  evening,  as  best  suits  the 
student. 

The  kindergarten  and  model  schools  cover  the  work 
of   the   public   schools   from   the   kindergarten   to    the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  239 

highest  grammar  grades,  fitting  the  student  to  enter  the 
first  year  of  the  preparatory  department.  These  classes 
are  held  in  the  daytime  only. 

The  power  to  confer  degrees  was  granted  in  1891. 
The  teaching  force  has  been  greatly  enlarged  nntil  at 
present  there  are  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  teachers 
and  an  average  of  more  than  three  thousand  regular 
students  yearly. 

The  number  of  students  instructed  at  Temple  College 
in  proportion  to  money  expended  and  buildings  used  is 
altogether  out  of  proportion  to  any  other  college  in 
America.  Some  idea  of  the  breadth  of  study  presented 
at  Temple  College  may  be  had  from  a  comparison  with 
Harvard*  Harvard  has  more  than  five  thousand  stu- 
dents, four  hundred  instructors,  and  presents  five  hun- 
dred courses  of  study.  Its  growth  since  1860  has  been 
wonderful.  In  1860,  while  one  man  might  not  have  been 
able  in  four  years  to  master  all  the  subjects  offered,  he 
could  have  done  so  in  six.  It  was  estimated  in  1899 
that  the  courses  of  study  offered  were  so  varied  that 
sixty  years  would  have  been  required.  It  would  take 
one  student  ninety-six  years  to  take  all  the  courses  pre- 
sented by  the  Temple  College. 

From  the  time  of  the  opening  of  Temple  College  lip 
to  the  closing  exercises  of  1905,  its  students  have  num- 
bered 55,656.  If  an  answer  is  desired  to  the  question, 
"  Is  such  an  institution  needed,"  that  number  answers 
is  most  emphatically.  That  more  than  fifty  thousand 
people,  the  majority  of  them  working  men  and  women, 
will  give  their  nights  after  a  day  of  toil,  to  study,  proves 
that  the  institution  that  gives  them  the  opportunity  to 
study  is  sorely  needed. 

The  life  story  of  men  and  women  who  have  studied 


240  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

liere  and  gone  on  to  lives  of  usefulness  would  make 
interesting  reading.  One  young  girl  "who  lived  in  the 
mill  district  of  Kensington  was  earning  $2.50  a  week, 
folding  circulars,  addressing  envelopes  and  doing  such 
work.  Her  parents  were  poor.  She  had  the  most 
meagre  education,  and  the  outlook  for  her  to  earn  more 
was  dark.  Some  one  advised  her  to  go  to  Temple  Col- 
lege at  night  and  study  bookkeeping.  A  few  years 
after,  her  well-wisher  saw  her  one  evening  at  the  college, 
bright,  happy,  a  different  girl  in  both  dress  and  deport- 
ment. She  had  a  position  as  bookkeeper  at  $10  a  week 
and  was  going  on  now  and  taking  other  courses. 

That  is  the  ordinary  story  of  the  work  Temple  College 
does,  multiplied  in  thousands  of  lives.  Others  are  not 
so  ordinary.  One  of  the  early  students  was  a  poor  man 
earning  $6.00  a  week.  To-day  he  is  earning  $6,000 
a  year  in  a  goverament  position  at  Washington,  his  rise 
in  life  due  entirely  to  tlie  opportunities  of  study  offered 
him  at  Temple  College.  A  lady  who  had  been  brought 
up  in  refined  and  cultured  society  was  compelled  to 
support  herself,  her  husband  and  child  through  his  com- 
plete physical  breakdown.  She  took  the  normal  course 
in  dressmaking  and  millinery,  and  has  this  year  been 
appointed  the  Director  of  the  Domestic  Science  work  in 
a  large  institution  at  a  veiy  good  salary,  being  able  to 
keep  herself  and  family  in  comfort.  One  of  the  present 
college  students  was  a  weaver  without  any  education  at 
all,  getting  not  only  his  elementaiy  education  and  his 
preparatory  education  here,  but  will  next  year  graduate 
from  the  college  department.  He  has  been  entirely 
self-supporting  in  the  meantime,  and  will  make  a  fine 
teacher  of  mathematics.     He -has  been  teachins;  extra 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  241 

classes  in  the  evening  department  of  the  College  for 
several  years. 

One  of  the  students  who  entered  the  classes  in  1886 
was  a  poor  boy  of  thirteen.  For  nineteen  long  years  he 
has  studied  persistently  at  night,  passing  from  one  grade 
to  another  until  this  summer  (1905)  his  long  schooling 
was  crowned  with  success  and  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  All  these  weary  years  he  has  worked  hard  dur- 
ing the  day,  for  there  were  others  depending  upon  him, 
and  at  night  despite  his  physical  weariness,  has  faith- 
fully pursued  his  studies.  He  deserves  his  success  and 
the  greater  success  that  will  come  to  him,  for  such  a 
man  in  those  long  years  has  stored  away  experiences 
that  will  make  him  a  power. 

Another  student  in  the  early  days  of  the  college  was 
a  poor  boy  who  had  no  education  whatever,  having  been 
compelled  to  help  earn  the  family  living  as  soon  as  he 
was  able,  his  father  being  a  drunkard.  For  fifteen 
3'ears  he  studied,  passing  from  one  grade  to  another 
until  in  1899,  he  had  the  great  joy  of  being  ordained 
to  the  ministry,  six  of  his  ministerial  brethren  gath- 
ering around  him  in  the  great  Temple  and  laying  on 
his  head  the  hands  of  ordination,  feeling  they  were 
setting  apart  to  the  struggles  and  hardships  of  the  Gos- 
pel ministiy  one  who  had  shown  himself  worthy  of  his 
exalted  calling. 

One  of  the  official  stenogi'aphers  connected  with  the 
Panama  Canal  Commission  was  a  breaker  boy  who  came 
to  Philadelphia  from  the  mining  district  poor  and  ignor- 
ant, and  studied  in  Temple  College  at  night,  working 
during  the  day  to  earn  his  living. 

Such  records  would  fill  a  book.  They  prove  better 
even  than  numbers  the  worth  of  such  an  institution. 


242  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

If  only  one  such  man  or  woman  is  lifted  to  a  happier, 
more  useful  life,  the  work  is  worth  while. 

Such  an  institution  can  do  much  for  the  purification 
of  politics.  Before  the  students  are  ever  held  high 
ideals  of  right  living,  of  honesty,  of  purity.  All  the 
associations  of  the  College  are  conducive  to  clean  char- 
acter and  high  ideals.  As  the  largest  number  of  the 
students  are  men  and  women  from  active  business 
life,  they  are  keenly  alive  to  the  questions  of  the  day. 
They  know  the  responsibility  for  honest  government 
rests  with  each  voter,  that  to  have  clean  politics  every 
man  and  woman  must  individually  do  his  share  to 
uphold  high  standards  in  political  and  social  life,  that 
only  men  whose  characters  are  above  reproach  should 
be  elected  to  office.  That  the  President  of  their  col- 
lege shares  these  views  and  Icnows  also  what  a  power 
lies  in  their  hands,  is  shown  by  the  following  letter: 

"  Fraternal  Greetings :  The  near  approach  of  an 
important  election  leads  me  to  suggest  to  you  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"  First.  There  being  now  in  this  city  over  seven 
thousand  voters  who  have  been  students  in  the  Temple 
College,  you  have  by  your  votes  and  your  influence, 
either  by  combination  or  as  individuals,  a  considerable 
political  power.  You  should  use  it  for  the  good  of  your 
city,  state,  and  nation. 

"  Second.  In  city  affairs  I  urge  you  to  think  first  of 
the  poor.  The  rich  do  not  need  yovir  care.  Vote  only  for 
such  city  candidates  as  will  most  speedily  secure  for 
the  more  needy  classes  pure  water,  clean  streets,  cheaper 
homes,  cheaper  and  more  useful  education,  healthier 
environment,  cheap  and  quick  transportation,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  labor-giving  improvements,  and  the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  243 

increase  of  sea-ffoing;  and  inland  commerce.  Select 
large-hearted,  cool-headed  men  for  city  officers,  regard- 
less of  national  parties. 

"  Third.  Let  no  man  or  party  purchase  your 
patriotic  birthright  for  a  fifty-cent  tax  bill  or  any  other 
sum. 

"  Fourth.  In  selecting  your  candidates  for  state 
offices  remember  the  needs  of  the  people.  Favor  the 
granting  to  the  submerged  poor  a  more  favorable  oppor- 
tunity to  help  themselves.  Move  in  the  most  reason- 
able and  direct  way  toward  the  ultimate  abolition  of 
the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage,  and  for 
the  increase  of  hospital  and  college  privileges  for  the 
afflicted  and  the  ignorant. 

"  Fifth.  In  national  politics,  remember  that  both 
parties  have  a  measure  of  truth  in  their  principles,  and 
the  need  of  the  time  is  noble,  conscientious  lovers  of 
humanity,  who  will  not  be  led  by  party  enthusiasm  into 
any  wild  schemes  in  either  direction  which  would  result 
in  the  destruction  of  business  and  the  degradation  of 
national  honor.  Think  independently,  vote  consider- 
ately, stand  unflinchingly  against  any  measure  that  is 
wrong,  and  vigorously  in  favor  of  every  movement  that 
is  right.  This  is  an  opportunity  to  do  a  great,  good 
deed.     Quit  you  like  men.     With  endearing  affection, 

"  RUSSELI.    H.    CONWELT.." 

Even  now  the  press  of  students  is  so  great  the  trus- 
tees are  planning  larger  things.  The  "  Philadelphia 
Press,"  speaking  of  the  new  work  to  be  undertaken, 
said : 

"  A  city  university,  with  a  capacity  of  seven  thousand 
students,  more  than  are  attending  any  other  one 
scat  of  learning  in  the  United  States,  is  to  be  built  in 


244  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

Philadelphia.  It  will  be  the  university  of  the  Temple 
College  and  will  stand  on  the  site  of  the  old  Broad 
Street  Baptist  Church  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Broad 
and  Brown  Streets,  and  the  lot  adjoining  the  church 
property  on  the  south  side  on  Broad  Street. 

"  The  new  structure  will  cost  $225,000,  while  the 
ground  on  which  it  will  be  built  is  worth  $165,000, 
making  the  total  value  of  the  new  institution  $390,000. 

"  Bev.  Eusscll  H.  Conwell,  D,  D.,  pastor  of  the  Grace 
Baptist  Church,  at  Broad  and  Berks  Streets,  and  Presi- 
dent of  Temple  College,  said  yesterday  that  the  new 
university  will  he  completed  and  ready  for  occupancy 
by  September,  1906.  In  the  twenty  years  of  its  exist- 
ence Temple  College  has  grown  as  have  few  educational 
institutions  in  America,  until  now  it  has  more  than 
three  thousand  students  enrolled  yearly. 

"  With  the  erection  of  the  university  building  the 
institution  will  have  facilities  for  educating  four  thou- 
sand more  students,  or  a  total  of  seven  thousand. 

"  Some  idea  of  how  the  other  great  universities  of  the 
country  compare  with  regard  to  the  number  of  students 
attending  them  with  this  new  university  of  Philadelphia 
is  shown  by  the  following  table : 

Name.  Number  of  Students. 

Temple  University 7,000 

Harvard    5,393 

Yale    2,995 

Pennsylvania    2,692 

Princeton     1,373 

''  The  Temple  University  building  will  be  eight 
stories  high,  at  least  that  is  the  plan  the  trustees  have 
in  mind  at  present,  but  the  structure  will  be  so  built 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  245 

that  a  height  of  two  stories  may  be  added  at  any  time. 
It  will  have  a  frontage  of  129  feet  on  Broad  Street  and 
140  feet  on  Brown  Street  The  corner  property  was 
deeded  as  a  gift  to  Temple  College  by  the  Broad  and 
Brown  Streets  Church  and  the  College  then  purchased 
the  adjoining  property  on  Broad  Street.  In  appre- 
ciation of  the  gift  the  College  has  offered  the  use  of 
the  university  chapel,  which  will  be  built  in  the  build- 
ing, to  the  Broad  and  Brown  Streets  Church  congre- 
gation for  a  place  of  worship. 

"  The  university  will  be  built  of  stone,  and  while 
not  an  elaborate  structure,  it  will  be  substantial  and 
suitable  in  every  respect  and  imposing  in  its  very  sim- 
plicity. 

"  In  addition  to  the  university  offices  there  will  be 
a  large  gymnasium,  a  free  dispensary,  departments  of 
medicine,  theology,  law,  engineering,  sciences,  and,  in 
fact,  all  the  branches  of  learning  that  are  taught  in  any 
of  the  great  universities.  There  will  be  a  library  and 
lecture  room  for  every  department,  pathological  and 
chemical  laboratories  and  a  sufficient  number  of  class- 
rooms to  preclude  crowding  of  students  for  the  next  ten 
or  fifteen  years. 

"  There  are  now  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  instruc- 
tors in  Temple  College,  but  when  the  university  is 
opened  this  number  will  be  increased  to  three  hundred. 

"  The  present  college  building,  which  adjoins  the 
Baptist  Temple,  will  continue  to  be  used,  but  only  for 
the  normal  classes  and  lower  grade  of  work.  The 
building  will  be  remodeled.  The  dwelling  adjoining 
the  college  which  has  been  occupied  as  the  theological 
department  will  be  vacated  when  the  university  is  com- 
pleted. 


246  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

"  Dr.  Conwell,  the  father  of  Temple  College  and  who 
in  years  to  come  vv'ill  be  spoken  of  as  the  father  of  Tem- 
ple University,  said  yesterday: 

"  '  It  will  be  a  university  for  busy  people,  the  same 
as  the  college  has  been  a  college  for  busy  people.  Our 
institution  reaches  and  benefits  a  class  —  in  some  re- 
spects the  greatest  class  —  of  persons  who  want  to 
study  and  enlarge  their  education,  but  cannot  attend 
the  other  universities  and  colleges  for  financial  reasons 
and  because  of  their  business. 

"  '  There's  many  a  man  and  woman,  young  and  mid- 
dle-aged, who  is  not  satisfied  with  himself  —  he  wants 
to  go  on  farther,  he  wants  to  learn  more.  But  his  daily 
work  won't  allow  him  to  complete  his  education  because 
of  the  inconvenient  hours  of  the  classes  and  lectures  in 
other  colleges.  And  he  comes  to  Temple,  as  there  classes 
are  held  practically  all  day  and  for  several  hours  at 
night.  The  terms  of  the  course  at  Temple '  College  are 
reasonable,  and  thus  many  young  men  or  women  may 
prepare  themselves  for  higher  and  more  remunerative 
work,  whereas  they  would  not  feel  that  they  could  afford 
to  pay  the  tuition  fee  at  some  other  institution.  The 
Temple  University  will  be  similar  to  the  London  Uni- 
versity, a  city  university  for  busy  persons.'  " 

Thus  Temple  College  grows  because  it  is  needed. 
And  such  an  institution  is  needed  in  other  cities  as  well 
as  in  Philadelphia.  This  is  but  the  pioneer.  It  can. 
have  sister  institutions  wherever  people  want  to  study 
and  Christian  hearts  want  to  help. 

It  grows  also  because  in  the  heart  of  one  man,  its 
founder,  is  the  bitter  knowledge  of  how  sorely  such  an 
institution  is  needed  by  those  who  want  to  study,  and 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  247 

■who  himself  works  hand,  heart  and  soul  so  that  it  shall 
never  fail  those  who  need  it. 

Says  James  IVI.  Beck,  the  noted  lawyer: 
"  There  have  been  very  wealthy  men  who,  ont  of  the 
abundance  of  their  resources,  have  founded  colle2:es,  but 
I  can  hardly  recall  a  case  where  a  man,  without  abun- 
dant means,  by  mere  force  of  character  and  intellectual 
energy,  has  both  created  and  maintained  an  institution 
of  this  size  and  character." 

Far  back  in  the  dim  light  of  the  centuries,  Con- 
fucius wrote,  "  Give  instruction  unto  those  who  cannot 
obtain  it  for  themselves,"  This  is  the  great  and  useful 
work  the  Temple  College  is  doing  and  doing  it  nobly, 
a  work  that  will  count  for  untold  good  on  future  gen- 
erations. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

THE   SAMARITAN   HOSPITAL 

Beginning:  in  Two  Rooms.  Growth.  Number  of  Beds.  Manage- 
ment. Temple  Services  Heard  by  Telephone.  Faith  and  Na- 
tionality of  Those  Cared  For. 

HIS  pastoral  work  among  his  church  members  and 
others  of  the  neighborhood  brought  to  Dr.  Con- 
well's  mind  constantly  the  needs  of  the  sick 
poor.  Scarcely  a  week  passed  that  some  one  did  not 
come  to  him  for  help  for  a  loved  one  suffering  from 
disease,  but  without  means  to  secure  proper  medical 
aid.  Sick  and  poor  — ■  that  is  a  condition  which  sums 
up  the  height  of  human  physical  suffering  —  the  body 
racked  with  pain,  burning  with  fever,  yet  day  and 
night  battling  on  in  misery,  without  medical  aid,  with- 
out nursing,  without  any  of  the  comforts  that  relieve 
pain.  ISTor  is  the  sick  one  the  only  sufferer.  Those 
who  love  him  endure  the  keenest  mental  anguish  as  they 
stand  by  helpless,  unable  to  raise  a  finger  for  his  relief 
because  they  are  poor.  Through  the  deep  waters  of 
both  these  experiences  Dr.  Conwell  had  himself  passed. 
He  knew  the  anguish  of  heart  of  seeing  loved  ones 
suffer,  of  being  unable  to  secure  for  them  the  nourishing 
food,  tlie  care  needed  to  make  them  well.  He  knew  the 
wretchedness  of  being  sick  and  poor  and  of  not  know- 
ing which  way  to  turn  for,  help,  while  quivering 
flesh  and  nerves  called  in  torture  for  relief.     His  heart 

243 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  249 

went  out  in  burning  sympathy  to  all  such  cases  that 
cam©  to  his  knowledge,  and  generously  he  helped.  But 
they  were  far  too  many  for  one  man,  big-hearted  and 
open-handed  as  he  might  be.  More  and  more  the  need 
of  a  hospital  in  that  part  of  the  city  was  impressed  upon 
him.  Accidents  among  his  membership  were  numerous, 
yet  the  nearest  hospital  was  blocks  and  blocks  away,  a 
distance  which  meant  precious  minutes  when  with  every 
moment  life  was  ebbing. 

He  laid  the  matter  before  his  church  people.  Down 
through  the  centuries  came  ringing  in  their  ears  that 
command,  "  Heal  the  sick."  They  knew  it  was  Christ's 
work  — "  Unto  Him  were  brought  all  sick  people  that 
were  taken  with  divers  diseases  and  he  healed  them." 

So  they  decided  to  rent  two  rooms  where  the  sick 
could  be  cared  for,  and  later  built  a  hospital  for  the 
poor,  where  without  money  and  without  price,  the  best 
medical  aid,  the  tenderest  nursing  were  at  the  command 
of  those  in  need. 

"  The  Hospital  was  founded,"  says  Di*.  Conwell, 
"  and  this  property  purchased  in  the  'hope  that  it  would 
do  Christ's  work.  ISTot  simply  to  heal  for  the  sake 
of  professional  experience,  not  simply  to  cure  disease 
and  repair  broken  bones,  but  to  so  do  those  charitable 
acts  as  to  enforce  the  truth  Jesus  taught,  that  God 
*  would  not  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should 
come  unto  Him  and  live.'  Soul  and  body,  both  need 
the  healing  balm  of  Christianity.  The  Hospital  mod- 
estly and  touchingly  furnishes  it  to  all  classes,  creeds, 
and  ages  whose  sufferings  cause  them  to  cry  out,  '  Have 
mercy  on  me  f  '  " 

So  far  as  buildings  were  concerned,  it  began  in  a 
small  way,  though  its  spirit  of  kindness  and  Christian 


250  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

charity  was  large.  After  one  year  in  rented  rooms,  a 
house  was  purchased  on  JSTorth  Broad  Street,  near  On- 
tario Street,  and  fitted  up  as  a  hospital  with  wards, 
^  operating  room  and  dispensary.  It  was  situated  just 
where  a  network  of  railroads  focuses  and  near  a  number 
of  large  factories  and  machine  shops,  where  accidents 
were  occurring  constantly.  Almost  immediately  its 
wards  were  filled.  The  name  "  Samaritan  Hospital " 
was  given  as  typical  of  its  work  and  spirit,  its  projectors 
and  supporters  laying  down  their  money  and  agreeing 
to  pay  whatever  might  he  needed,  as  well  as  giving  of 
their  personal  care  and  attention  to  the  sufferer.  But 
though  Dr.  Conwell's  heart  is  big,  his  head  is  practical. 
He  does  not  believe  in  indiscriminate  charity. 

"  Charity  is  composed  of  sympathy  and  self-sacrifice. 
There  is  no  charity  without  a  union  of  these  two,"  he 
said,  in  an  address  years  ago  at  Music  Hall,  Boston. 
*'  To  make  a  gift  become  a  charity  the  recipient  must 
feel  that  it  is  given  out  of  sympathy ;  that  the  donor  has 
made  a  sacrifice  to  give  it;  that  it  is  intended  only 
as  assistance  and  not  as  a  permanent  support,  unless  the 
needy  one  be  helpless;  and  that  it  is  not  given  as  his 
right.  To  accomplish  this  end  desired  by  charitable 
hearts  demands  an  acquaintance  with  the  persons  to 
be  assisted  or  a  study  of  them,  and  a  great  degree  of 
caution  and  patience.  It  is  not  only  unnecessary,  but 
a  positive  wrong  to  give  to  itinerant  beggars.  There  is 
no  such  thing  as  charity  about  a  so-called  state  charity. 
It  is  statesmanship  to  rid  the  community  of  nuisances, 
to  feed  the  poor  and  prevent  stealing  and  robbery,  but 
it  should  not  be  called  *  a  charity.'  The  paupers  take 
their  provision  as  their  right*,  feel  no  gratitude,  acquire 
no  ambition^  no  industry,  no  culture.     The  state  alms- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  251 

house  educates  the  brain  and  chills  the  heart.  It  fas- 
tens a  stigma  on  the  child  to  hinder  and  curse  it  for  life. 
Any  institution  supported  otherwise  than  by  voluntary 
contribution,  or  in  the  hands  of  paid  public  officials, 
can  never  have  the  spirit  of  charity  nor  be  correctly 
called  a  charity.  Boston's  public  charitable  institu- 
tions, so  called,  are  not  charities  at  all;  the  motive  is 
not  sympathy,  but  necessity.  The  money  for  the  sup- 
port of  paupers  is  not  paid  with  benevolent  intentions 
by  the  tax-payers,  nor  do  the  inmates  of  almshouses 
so  receive  it.  I  have  been  engaged  in  gathering  statis- 
tics, and  have  found  sixty-three  per  cent  of  all  persons 
who  applied  for  assistance  at  the  various  institutions 
were  impostors,  while  many  were  swindlers  and  profes- 
sional burglars." 

The  sick  poor  are  never  turned  away  from  Samaritan 
Hospital,  but  those  who  are  able  to  pay  are  requested 
to  do  so.  Dr.  Conwell  believes  it  would  be  a  wrong 
to  treat  such  people  free,  an  injustice  to  physicians,  as 
well  as  an  encouragement  of  a  wrong  spirit  in  them- 
selves. The  hospital  has  a  number  of  private  rooms 
in  which  patients  are  received  for  pay.  Many  have 
been  furnished  by  members  of  Grace  Baptist  Church 
in  memory  of  some  loved  one  "  gone  before,"  or  by 
Sunday  School  classes  or  church  organizations. 

It  may  have  been  the  fact  that  it  started  in  an  ordi- 
nary house  that  gave  the  Hospital  its  cheery,  homelike 
atmosphere.  It  may  have  been  the  spirit  of  the  work-  ' 
ers.  But  its  homelike  air  is  noticeable.  "While  rules 
are  strictly  enforced,  as  they  must  be,  there  is  a  feeling 
of  personal  interest  in  each  patient  that  makes  the  sick 
feel  that  she  is  something  more  than  a  "  case  "  or  a 
"  number." 


252  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

"  The  lovely  Christ  spirit,"  says  Dr.  Conwell,  "  which 
inclines  men  and  women  to  care  for  their  "unfortunate 
fellow-men,  is  especially  beautiful  when  in  addition 
to  the  healings  of  wounds  and  disease,  the  afflicted  suf- 
ferers are  welcomed  to  such  a  home  as  the  Samaritan 
Hospital  has  become.  All  such  kind  deeds  become 
doubly  sweet  when  done  in  the  name  of  Christ,  because 
they  cany  with  them  sympathy  for  those  in  pain,  love 
for  the  loveless,  a  home  for  the  homeless,  friendship 
for  the  friendless,  and  a  divine  solace,  which  are  often 
more  than  surgical  skill  or  medical  science.  Such  an 
institution  the  Samaritan  Hospital  is  ever  to  be.  It 
began  in  weakness  and  inexperience,  but  with  Christian 
devotion  and  affection,  its  founders  and  supporters  have 
conquered  innumerable  difficulties,  and  can  now  say 
unreservedly  that  they  have  a  hospital  with  all  the  con- 
veniences and  all  the  influences  of  a  Christian  home." 

The  hospital  was  opened  February  1,  1692.  It  did 
not  take  long  to  prove  the  need  of  the  work.  Before  the 
year  was  out  it  was  so  crowded  that  an  addition  had  to  be 
built,  and  now  magnificent  buildings  stand  adjoining 
the  original  "  house  "  as  a  monument  to  the  untiring 
work  and  zeal  of  Grace  Church  members  and  their 
friends.     It  is  now  an  independent  corporation. 

The  hospital  is  fitted  with  all  modem  appliances 
for  caring  for  the  sick.  It  has  a  hundred  and  seventy 
beds,  and  a  large  and  competent  staff  of  physicians 
numbering  many  of  the  best  in  the  city.  There  is  also 
a  training  school  for  nurses,  the  original  hospital  build- 
ing being  now  fitted  up  and  furnished  as  a  nurses'  home. 
More  than  five  thousand  different  cases  are  ministered 
to  during  the  year  in  the  beds  and  dispensary.  The 
annual  expense  of  running  the  hospital  is  more  than 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  253 

forty  thousand  dollars,  the  value  of  the  property  more 
than  three   hundred  thousand   dollars. 

In  addition  to  the  customary  weekly  visiting  days, 
visitors  are  allowed  on  one  evening  during  the  week  and 
on  Sunday  afternoons.  These  rather  unusual  visiting 
hours  are  an  innovation  of  Dr.  Conwell's  for  the  benefit 
of  busy  workers  who  cannot  visit  their  sick  friends  or 
relatives  on  week  days. 

A  novel  feature  of  the  hospital  and  one  which  brings 
great  pleasure  to  the  patients,  is  the  telephone  service 
connecting  it  with  The  Temple,  whereby  those  who  are 
able,  can  hear  the  preaching  of  the  pastor  Sunday  morn- 
ing and  evening  at  the  big  church  farther  down  Broad 
Street. 

One  of  the  most  efficient  aids  in  the  hospital's  growth 
has  been  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers.  When  the 
hospital  was  opened  in  1892,  a  committee  of  six  ladies 
was  appointed  by  Mr.  Conwell  to  take  charge  of  the 
housekeeping  affairs,  and  from  this  committee  has 
grown  this  Board  which  has  done  so  much  to  aid  the 
hospital,  both  by  raising  money  and  looking  after  its 
household  affairs. 

This  committee  had  entire  charge  of  the  house  de- 
partment, visiting  it  weekly,  inspecting  the  house,  and 
making  suggestions  to  the  trustees  for  improving  the 
work  in  that  department. 

The  Board  is  divided  into  Finance,  Visiting, 
Flower,  Linen,  Ward  Supplies,  House  Supplies  and 
Sewing  Committee.  The  chairman  of  these  commit- 
tees, together  with  the  five  officers,  constitute  the  Execu- 
tive Committee,  and  meet  with  the  trustees  at  their 
regular  monthly  meetings. 

In   addition   to  paying  the  housekeeping  bills,   the 


254  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

board  has  come  many  times  to  tlie  assistance  of  the 
trustees,  and  by  giving  entertainments,  holding  sales, 
teas,  receptions,  has  raised  large  sums  of  money  for 
special  purposes.  In  connection  with  this  Board  is 
the  Samaritan  Aid  Society  which  annually  contributes 
about  three  hundred  new  articles  of  clothing  and  bed- 
ding. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  is  composed  of  able,  experi- 
enced business  men  who  apply  their  knowledge  of  busi- 
ness affairs  to  the  conduct  of  the  hospital.  It  means 
a  sacrifice  of  much  time  on  their  part,  but  it  is  cheer- 
fully given. 

The  hospital  is  non-sectarian.  Suffering  and  need 
are  the  only  requisites  for  admission.  During  the  past 
year  among  those  who  were  cared  for  were: 

Catholic    284 

Baptist    154 

Methodist     141 

Episcopalian    112 

Lutheran     07 

Presbyterian    9G 

Hebrew    89 

Protestant    54 

Reformed    25 

Friends 12 

Confucianism     5 

Congregational    4 

United    Brethren    3 

Evangelist    -    3 

Christian    2 

Not  recorded  60 

1141 

The  nativity  of  the  patients  showed  that  nearly  all 
countries    were    represented  —  Eussia,    Poland,    Italy, 


i 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  255 

Canada,  Sweden,  l^orway,  Scotland,  England,  Germany, 
Ireland,  China,  Hungary,  Australia,  Switzerland,  Jeru- 
salem, Roumania  and  Armenia. 

ISTever  was  the  worth  of  its  work  better  shown  than  in 
the  terrible  Ball  Park  accident,  which  happened  in 
Philadelphia  in  1904,  when  by  the  collapsing  of  the 
grandstand  hundreds  were  killed  and  injured.  Without 
a  moment's  notice,  more  than  a  hundred  patients  were 
rushed  to  the  hospital  and  cared  for.  When  the  wards 
were  filled,  cots  were  placed  in  the  halls,  in  the  offices, 
wherever  there  was  room,  and  the  injured  tenderly 
treated. 

Thus  from  small  beginnings  and  a  great  need  it  has 
steadily  grown,  supported  by  contributions  and  upheld 
by  the  faithful  work  of  those  who  labor  for  the  love 
of  the  Master.  Sacrifices  of  time  and  money  have  been 
freely  made  for  it,  for  the  people  who  have  worked  to 
support  it  are  few  of  them  rich.  It  still  needs  help, 
for  "  the  poor  ye  have  always  with  you."  And  while 
there  are  poor  people  and  sick  people,  Samaritan  Hos- 
pital will  always  need  the  help  of  the  more  fortunate 
to  aid  it  in  its  great  work  of  relieving  pain. 


CHAPTEK  XXX 

THE  MANNER  OF  THE  MAN 

Boundless  Love  for  Men.  Utter  Humility.  His  Simplicity  and 
Informality.  Keen  Sense  of  Humor.  His  Unconventional 
Methods  of  Work.     Power  as  a  Leader.     His  Tremendous  Faith. 

WHAT  of  the  personality  of  the  man  back  of  all 
this  ceaseless  work,  these  stupendous  under- 
takings ?  Much  of  it  can  be  read  in  the  work 
itself.  But  not  all.  One  must  know  Dr.  Conwell 
personally  to  realize  that  deep,  abiding  love  of  humanity 
which  is  the  wellspring  of  his  life  and  which  shows 
itself  in  constant  and  innumerable  acts  of  thoughtful- 
ness  and  kindness  for  the  happiness  of  others.  He 
cannot  see  a  drunkard  on  the  street  without  his  heart 
going  out  in  a  desire  to  help  him  to  a  better  life.  He 
cannot  see  a  child  in  tears,  but  that  he  must  know  the 
trouble  and  mend  it.  From  boyhood,  it  was  one  of 
the  strongest  traits  of  his  character,  and  when  it  clasped 
hands  with  a  man!s  love  of  Christ,  it  became  the  ruling 
passion  of  his  life.  The  woes  of  humanity  touch  him 
deeply.  He  freely  gives  himself,  his  time,  his  money 
to  lighten  them.  But  he  knows  that  to  do  his  best,  is 
but  comparatively  little.  To  him  it  is  a  pitiful  thing 
that  so  much  of  the  world's  misery  cannot  be  relieved 
because  of  the  lack  of  money ;  that  people  must  starve, 
must  suffer  pain  and  disease,  must  go  without  the  edu- 
cation that  makes  life  brighter  and  happier,  simply  for 

2J0 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  257 

the  want  of  this  one  thing  of  so  little  worth  compared 
with  the  great  things  of  life  it  has  the  power  to  with- 
hold or  grant. 

One  must  also  be  intimately  associated  with  Dr.  Con- 
well  to  realize  the  deep  humility  that  rules  his  heart,  that 
makes  him  firmly  believe  any  man  who  will  trust  in 
God  and  go  ahead  in  faith  can  accomplish  all  that  he 
himself  has  done,  and  more. 

"  You  do  not  know  what  a  struggle  my  life  is,"  he 
said  once  to  a  friend.  "  Only  God  and  my  own  heart 
know  how  far  short  I  come  of  what  I  ought  to  be,  and 
how  often  I  mar  the  use  He  would  make  of  me  even 
when  I  would  serve  Him." 

And  again,  at  the  Golden  Jubilee  services,  in  honor  of 
his  fiftieth  birthday,  he  said  publicly  what  he  many 
times  says  in  private: 

"  I  look  back  on  the  errors  of  by-gone  years ;  my 
blunders ;  my  pride  ;  my  self-sufficiency  ;  my  willfulness 
—  if  God  would  take  me  up  in  my  unworthiness  and 
imperfection  and  lift  me  to  such  a  place  of  happiness 
and  love  as  this  —  I  say.  He  can  do  it  for  any  man. 

"  When  I  see  the  blunders  I  unintentionally  make 
in  history,  in  mathematics,  in  names,  in  rhetoric,  in 
exegesis,  and  yet  see  that  God  uses  even  blunders  to 
save  men  —  I  sink  back  into  the  humblest  place  before 
Him  and  say,  '  If  God  can  use  such  preaching  as  that, 
blunders  and  mistakes  like  these ;  if  He  can  take  them 
and  use  them  for  His  glory,  He  can  use  anybody  and 
anything.'  I  let  out  the  secret  of  my  life  when  I  tell 
you  this :  If  I  have  succeeded  at  all,  it  has  been  with 
the  conscious  sense  that  as  God  has  used  even  me,  so  can 
He  use  others.     God  saved  me  and  He  can  save  them. 


17 


258  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

My  very  faults  show  me,  they  teach  me,  that  any  person 
can  be  helped  and  saved." 

Speaking  of  his  sermons,  which  are  taken  down  by  a 
stenographer  and  typewritten  for  publication  in  the 
"  Temple  Review,"  he  said,  with  the  utmost  dejection, 
"  Positively  they  make  me  sick.  To  think  that  I  should 
stand  up  and  undertake  to  preach  when  I  can  do  no 
better  than  that." 

He  has  ever  that  sense  of  defeat  from  which  all  great 
minds  suffer  whose  high  ideals  ever  elude  them. 

In  manner  and  speech,  he  is  simple  and  unaffected, 
and  approachable  at  all  times.  When  not  away  from 
the  city  lecturing,  he  spends  a  certain  part  of  the  day 
in  his  study  at  the  church,  where  any  one  can  see  him 
on  any  matter  which  he  may  wish  to  bring  to  his  atten- 
tion. The  ante-room  is  thronged  at  the  hour  when  it 
is  known  that  he  will  be  there.  People  waylay  him 
in  the  church  corridors,  and  on  the  streets,  so  well 
known  is  his  kindly  heart,  his  attentive  ear,  his  gen- 
erous hand. 

^ot  only  do  these  visitors  invade  the  church,  but 
they  come  to  his  home.  Early  in  the  morning  they  are 
there.  They  await  him  when  he  returns  late  at  night. 
As  an  instance  of  their  number,  one  Saturday  afternoon 
late  in  June  he  had  one  hour  free  which  he  hoped  to 
take  for  rest  and  the  preparation  of  the  next  morning's 
sermon.  During  that  one  hour  he  had  six  callers,  each 
staying  until  the  next  arrived.  One  of  these  was  a 
young  man  whom  Dr.  Conwell  had  never  seen,  a  boy 
no  more  than  seventeen  or  eighteen.  He  had  a  few 
weeks  before  made  a  runaway  marriage  with  a  girl 
still  younger  than  himself.  "Her  parents  had  indig- 
nantly taken  the  bride  home,  and  the  young  husband 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  259 

came  to  Dr.  Conwell  to  ask  him  to  seek  out  these 
parents  and  persuade  them  to  let  the  child  -wife  return 
to  her  husband. 

He  has  a  knack  of  putting  everybody  at  ease  in  his 
presence,  which  perhaps  accounts  for  the  freedom  with 
which  people,  even  utter  strangers,  come  to  him  and 
pour  into  his  ear  their  life  secrets.  This  earnest  desire 
to  help  people,  to  make  them  happier  and  better,  shines 
from  his  life  with  such  force  that  one  feels  it  imme- 
diately on  entering  his  presence  and  opens  one's  heart 
to  him.  He  helps,  advises,  and,  because  he  is  so  pre- 
eminently a  man  of  faith  and  believes  so  firmly  that  all 
he  has  done  has  been  accomplished  by  faith  and  perse- 
verance, he  inspires  others  with  like  confidence  in  them- 
selves. They  go  away  encouraged,  hopeful,  strengthened 
for  the  work  that  lies  ahead  of  them,  or  for  the  trouble 
they  must  surmount.  It  is  little  wonder  the  people 
throng  to  him  for  help. 

His  simple,  informal  view  of  life  is  shown  in  other 
things.  During  a  summer  vacation  in  the  Berkshires 
he  was  scheduled  to  lecture  in  one  of  the  home  towns. 
His  old  friends  and  neighbors  dearly  love  to  hear  him, 
and  nearly  always  secure  a  lecture  from  him  while  he 
is  supposed  to  be  resting.  Entirely  forgetting  the  lec- 
ture, he  planned  a  fishing  trip  that  day.  Just  as  the 
fishing  party  was  ready  to  start,  some  one  remembered 
the  lecture.  There  would  not  be  time  to  go  fishing, 
return,  dress  and  go  to  the  lecture  town.  But  Dr. 
Conwell  is  a  great  fisherman,  and  he  disliked  most 
thoroughly  to  give  up  that  fishing  trip.  He  thought 
about  it  a  few  minutes,  and  then  in  his  informal,  un- 
conventional fashion,  decided  he  would  both  fish  and 
lecture.     He  packed   his  lecturing  apparel   in   a   suit 


260  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

case,  tied  a  tub  for  tlie  accommodation  of  the  fish  on 
the  back  of  the  wagon  and  started.  All  day  he  fished, 
happy  and  contented.  When  lecturing  time  drew  near, 
rattling  and  splashing,  with  a  tubful  of  fish,  round- 
eyed  and  astonished  at  the  violent  upheavals  of  their 
usual  calm  abiding  place,  he  drove  up  to  the  lecture 
hall,  changed  his  clothes,  and  at  the  appointed  time 
appeared  on  the  platform  and  delivered  one  of  the  best 
lectures  that  section  ever  heard. 

Some  people  call  his  methods  sensational.  They  are 
not  sensational  in  the  sense  of  merely  making  a  noise 
for  the  purpose  of  attracting  attention.  They  are  un- 
conventional. Dr.  Conwell  pays  no  attention  to  forais 
if  the  life  has  gone  out  of  them,  to  traditions,  if  their 
spirit  is  dead,  their  days  of  usefulness  past.  He  lives 
in  the  present.  He  sees  present  needs  and  adopts  meth- 
ods to  fit  them.  1^0  doubt,  many  said  it  was  sensational 
to  tear  down  that  old  church  at  Lexington  himself. 
B"ut  there  was  no  money  and  the  church  must  come 
down.  The  only  way  to  get  it  down  and  a  new  one 
built,  was  to  go  to  work.  And  he  went  to  work  in 
straightforward,  practical  fashion.  It  takes  courage 
and  strength  of  mind  thus  to  tear  down  conventions  and 
forms.  But  he  does  not  hesitate  if  he  sees  they  are 
blocking  the  road  of  progress.  This  disregard  of  cus- 
toms, this  practical  common-sense  way  of  attacking 
evil  or  supplying  needs  is  seen  in  all  his  church  work. 
And  because  it  is  original  and  unusual,  it  brings  upon 
him  often,  a  storm  of  adverse  criticism.  But  he  never 
halts  for  that.  He  is  willing  to  suffer  misrepresenta- 
tion, even  calumny,  if  the  cause  for  which  he  is  work- 
ing,  progresses.     He  cares  nothing  for  himself.     He 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  261 

thinks  only  of  the  Master  and  the  work  He  has  com- 
mitted to  his  hands. 

Though  the  great  masses  in  their  ignorance  and  pov- 
erty appeal  to  him  powerfully  and  incite  him  to  tre- 
mendous undertakings  for  their  relief,  he  does  not, 
because  his  hands  are  so  full  of  great  things,  turn  aside 
from  opportunities  to  help  the  individual.  Indeed,  it 
is  this  readiness  to  answer  a  personal  call  for  help  that 
has  endeared  him  so  to  thousands  and  thousands.  No 
matter  what  may  be  the  labor  or  inconvenience  to  him- 
self, he  responds  instantly  when  the  appeal  comes. 

Two  men,  now  members  of  the  church,  often  tell  the 
incident  that  led  to  their  conversion.  One  evening 
they  fell  to  discussing  Dr.  Conwell  with  some  young 
friends  who  were  members  of  the  church.  The  young 
men  stoutly  maintained  that  "  Conwell  was  like  all 
the  rest  —  in  it  for  the  almighty  dollar."  The  church 
members  as  stoutly  asserted  that  he  was  actuated  by 
motives  far  above  such  sordid  consideration.  But  the 
men  would  not  yield  their  point  and  the  subject  was 
dropped.  A  few  evenings  later,  coming  out  of  a  saloon 
at  midnight  into  a  blinding  snowstorm,  they  lieard  a 
man  say,  "  My  dear  child,  why  did  you  not  tell  me 
before  that  you  were  in  need.  You  know  I  would  not 
let  you  suffer." 

"  That's  Conwell,"  said  one  of  the  young  fellows. 

"  ISTothing  of  the  kind,"  replied  the  other.  "  What's 
the  matter  with  you  ?     Catch  him  out  a  night  like  this." 

"  But  I  tell  you  that  was  Conwell's  voice,"  said  the 
first  man.  "  I  know  it.  Let's  follow  him  and  see  what 
he's  doing." 

Through  the  thickly  falling  snow,  they  could  see  the 
tall  figure  of  Dr.  CouAvell  with  a  large  basket  on  one 


2C2  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

arm  and  leading  a  little  child  by  the  hand.  Keeping 
a  sufficient  distance  behind,  they  followed  him  to  a 
poor  home  in  a  little  street,  saw  him  enter,  saw  the 
light  flash  up  and  knew  that  he  was  living  out  in  deed 
the  doctrine  he  preached.  Silent,  they  turned  away. 
What  his  spoken  word  in  The  Temple  could  not  do 
his  ministry  at  midnight  had  accomplished,  and  they 
became  loyal  and  devoted  members  of  the  church. 

In  conversation  with  a  street  car  conductor  at  one 
time,  he  found  the  man  eager  to  hear  of  Christ  and 
His  love,  but  unable  to  give  heed  on  the  car  because 
he  might  be  reported  for  inattention  to  his  duties  and 
lose  his  place.  Dr.  Conwell  asked  him  where  he  took 
dinner,  and  at  the  noon  hour  was  there  and,  plainly 
and  simply,  as  the  man  ate  his  lunch,  told  what  Christ's 
love  in  his  heart  and  life  would  mean. 

Such  stories  could  be  multiplied  many  times  of  this 
personal  ministry  that  seeks  day  and  night,  in  season 
and  out,  to  make  mankind  better,  to  lift  it  up  where 
it  may  grasp  eternal  truth. 

Francis  Willard  says: 

"  To  move  among  the  people  on  the  common  street ; 
to  meet  them  in  the  market-place  on  equal  terms;  to 
live  among  them  not  as  saint  or  monk,  but  as  a  brother 
man  with  brother  men ;  to  serve  God  not  with  form  or 
ritual,  but  in  the  free  impulse  of  the  soul;  to  bear  the 
burden  of  society  and  relieve  its  needs;  to  carry  on  its 
multitudinous  activities  in  the  city,  social,  commercial, 
political,  and  philanthropic  —  this  is  the  religion  of 
the  Son  of  man."     This  is  the  religion  of  Dr.  Conwell. 

As  a  leader  and  organizer  he  is  almost  without  an 
equal  in  church  work.  He  sees  a  need.  His  practical 
mind  goes  to  work  to  plan  ways  to  meet  it.     He  organ- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  263 

izes  the  work  thoroughly  and  carefully;  he  rallies  his 
workers  about  him  and  then  leads  them  dauntlessly  for- 
ward to  success.  He  has  weathered  many  a  fierce  gale 
of  opposition,  won  out  in  many  a  furious  storm  of  criti- 
cism. The  greatm'  the  obstacles,  the  more  brightly 
does  his  ability  as  a  leader  shine.  He  seems  to  call  up 
from  some  secret  storehouse  reserves  of  enthusiasm. 
He  gets  everybody  energetically  and  cheerfully  at  work, 
and  the  obstacles  that  seemed  insurmountable  suddenly 
melt  away.  As  some  one  has  said,  "  He  attempts  the 
impossible,  yet  finds  practical  ways  to  accomplish  it." 

The  way  he  met  an  unexpected  demand  for  money 
during  the  building  of  the  church  illustrates  this : 

The  trustees  had,  as  they  thought,  made  provision 
for  the  renewal  of  a  note  of  $2,000,  due  Dec.  27th. 
Late  Friday,  Dec.  24th,  the  news  came  that  the  note 
could  not  be  renewed,  that  it  must  be  paid  Monday. 
They  had  no  money,  nothing  could  be  done  but  appeal 
to  the  people  on  Sunday. 

But  it  was  not  a  usual  Sunday.  The  Church,  just 
the  night  before,  had  closed  a  big  fair  for  the  College. 
Many  had  served  at  the  fair  tables  almost  until  the 
Sabbath  morning  was  ushered  in.  They  were  tired. 
All  had  given  money,  many  even  beyond  what  they 
could  afford.  It  was,  besides,  the  day  after  Christmas, 
and  if  ever  a  man's  pocketbook  is  empty,  it  is  then. 
To  make  the  outlook  still  drearier,  the  day  opened  with 
a  snowstorm  that  threatened  at  church  time  to  turn 
into  a  drizzling  rain.  Here  was  truly  the  impossible, 
for  none  of  the  people  at  any  time  could  give  a  large 
sum.  Yet  he  faced  the  situation  dauntlessly,  aroused 
his  people,  and  by  evening  $2,200  had  been  pledged 


264  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

for  immediate  payment,  and  of  that  $1,300  was  received 
in  cash  that  Sunday. 

In  a  sermon  once  he  said : 

"  Last  summer  I  rode  by  a  locality  where  there  had 
been  a  mill,  now  partially  destroyed  by  a  cyclone.  I 
looked  at  the  great  engine  lying  upon  its  side.  I  looked 
at  the  wheels,  at  the  boilers  so  out  of  place,  thrown 
carelessly  together.  I  saw  pieces  of  iron  the  uses  of 
which  I  did  not  understand.  I  saw  iron  bands,  bear- 
ings, braces,  and  shafting  scattered  about,  and  I  found 
the  great  circular  saw  rusting,  flat  in  the  grass.  I  went 
on  my  way  wondering  why  any  person  should  abandon 
so  many  pieces  of  such  excellent  machinery,  leaving 
good  property  to  go  to  waste.  But  again,  not  many 
weeks  ago,  I  went  by  that  same  place  and  saw  a  build- 
ing there,  temporary  in  its  nature,  but  with  smoke 
pouring  out  of  the  stack  and  steam  hissing  and  puffing 
from  the  exhaust  pipe.  I  heard  the  sound  of  the  great 
saw  singing  its  song  of  industry;  I  saw  the  teamsters 
hauling  away  gi'eat  loads  of  lumber.  The  only  dif- 
ference between  the  apparently  useless  old  lumber  and 
scrap  iron,  piled  together  in  promiscuous  confusion, 
machinery  thrown  into  a  heap  without  the  arrangement, 
and  the  new  building  with  its  powerful  engine  working 
smoothly  and  swiftly  for  the  comfort  and  wealth  of 
men,  was  that  before  the  rebuilding,  the  wheels,  the  saw, 
the  shafting,  boilers,  piston-rod,  and  fly  wheel  had  no 
definite  relation  to  each  other.  But  some  man  picked 
out  all  these  features  of  a  complete  mill  and  put  them 
into  proper  relation ;  he  adjusted  shaft,  boiler,  and 
cogwheel,  put  water  in  the  boiler  and  fire  under  it,  let 
steam  into  the  cylinders,  and  moved  piston-rod,  wheels, 
and   saw.     There  were  no  new  cogs,   wheels,  boilers. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  265 

or  saws ;  no  new  piece  of  machinery ;  there  has  only 
been  an  intelligent  spirit  found  to  set  them  in  their 
proper  places  and  relationship. 

"  One  great  difficulty  with  this  world,  whether  of  the 
entire  globe  or  the  individual  church,  is  that  it  is  made 
up  of  all  sorts  of  machinery  which  is  not  adjusted ; 
which  is  out  of  place ;  no  fire  under  the  boiler ;  no  steam 
to  move  the  machiner)\  There  is  none  of  the  necessary 
relationship  —  there  can  be  no  affinity  between  cold 
and  steam,  between  power  wasted  and  utility;  and  to 
overcome  this  difficulty  is  one  of  the  great  problems  of 
the  earth  to-day.  The  churches  are  very  much  in  this 
condition.  There  are  cogwheels,  pulleys,  belting,  and 
engines  in  the  church,  but  cut  of  all  useful  relationship. 
There  are  sincere,  earnest  Christians,  men  and  women, 
but  they  are  adjusted  to  no  power  and  no  purpose; 
they  have  no  definite  relationship  txD  utility.  They  go 
or  come,  or  lie  still  and  rust,  and  a  vast  power  for 
good  is  unapplied.  The  text  says  '  We  are  ambassadors 
for  Christ ' ;  that  means,  in  the  clearest  terms,  the 
greatest  object  of  the  Christian  teacher  and  worker 
should  be  the  bringing  into  right  relations  all  the  forces 
of  men,  and  gearing  them  to  the  power  of  Christ." 

He  undoubtedly  understands  bringing  men  together, 
and  getting  them  at  work  to  secure  almost  marvelous 
results.  A  friend  speaking  of  his  ability  once  said: 
"  I  admire  Mr.  Conwell  for  the  power  of  which  he  is 
possessed  of  reaching  out  and  getting  hold  of  men  and 
grappling  them  to  himself  with  hooks  of  steel. 

"  I  admire  him  not  only  for  the  power  he  has  of 
binding  men  not  only  to  himself,  but  of  binding  men  to 
Christ,  and  of  binding  them  to  one  another;  for  the 
power  he  has  of  generating  enthusiasm.     His  people 


26G  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

are  bound  not  only  to  the  church,  to  the  pastor,  to  God, 
but  to  one  another." 

He  never  fails  to  appreciate  the  spirit  with  which 
a  church  member  works,  even  if  results  are  not  always 
as  anticipated,  or  even  if  the  project  itself  is  not  always 
practical.  He  will  cheerfully  put  his  hand  down  into 
his  pocket  and  pay  the  bill  for  some  impractical  scheme, 
rather  than  dampen  the  ardor  of  an  enthusiastic  worker. 
He  knows  that  experience  will  come  with  practice,  but 
that  a  willing,  zealous  worker  is  above  price. 

Those  who  know  him  most  intimately  find  in  him, 
despite  his  strong,  practical  common  sense,  despite  his 
years  of  hard  work  in  the  world,  despite  the  many 
times  he  has  been  deceived  and  imposed  upon,  a  certain 
boyish  simplicity  and  guilelessness  of  heart,  a  touch 
of  the  poetic,  idealistic  temperament  that  sees  gold 
where  there  is  only  brass ;  that  hopes  and  believes,  where 
reason  for  hope  and  belief  there  is  none.  It  is  a  win- 
ning trait  that  endears  friends  to  him  most  closely, 
that  makes  them  cheerfully  overlook  such  imprudent 
benefactions  as  may  result  from  it,  though  he  himself 
holds  it  with  a  strong  rein,  and  only  reveals  that  side 
of  his  nature  to  those  who  know  him  best. 

He  studies  constantly  how  he  may  help  others,  never 
how  he  may  rest  himself.  At  his  old  home  at  South 
Worthington,  Mass.,  he  has  built  and  equipped  an 
academy  for  the  education  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  the 
neighborhood.  He  wants  no  boy  or  girl  of  his  home 
locality  to  have  the  bitter  fight  for  an  education  that 
he  was  forced  to  experience.  It  is  a  commodious  build- 
ing with  class-rooms  and  a  large  public  hall  which  is 
used  for  entertainments,  for  prayer  meetings,  harvest 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  2G7 

homes  and  all  tlie  gatherings  of  the  nearby  farming 
community. 

Many  other  enterprises  besides  those  directly  con- 
nected with  the  church  grow  out  of  Dr.  Conwell's  desire 
to  be  of  service  to  mankind.  But  like  the  organiza- 
tions of  the  church,  the  need  for  them  was  strongly 
felt  before  they  took  form. 

While  officiating  at  the  funeral  of  a  fireman  who  had 
lost  his  life  by  the  falling  walls  of  a  burning  building 
and  who  had  left  three  small  children  uncared  for,  Dr. 
Conwell  was  impressed  with  the  need  of  a  home  for  the 
orphans  of  men  who  risked  their  lives  for  the  city's 
good.  Pondering  the  subject,  he  was  called  that  same 
day  to  the  bedside  of  a  shut-in,  who,  w^hile  he  was 
there,  asked  him  if  there  was  any  way  by  which  she 
could  be  of  service  to  helpless  children  left  without 
paternal  care  or  support.  She  said  the  subject  had 
been  on  her  mind  and  such  a  work  was  dear  to  her  heart. 
She  was  a  gifted  writer  and  wielded  considerable  in- 
fluence and  could,  by  her  pen,  do  much  good  for  such  a 
■work,  not  only  by  her  writings  but  by  personal  letters 
asking  for  contributions  to  establish  and  support  an 
orphanage.  The  coincidence  impressed  the  matter  still 
more  strongly  on  Dr.  Conwell's  mind.  But  that  was 
not  the  end  of  it.  Still  that  same  day,  a  lady  came 
to  him  and  asked  his  assistance  in  securing  for  her  a 
position  as  matron  of  an  orphanage ;  and  a  woman 
physician  came  to  his  study  and  oifered  her  services 
free,  to  care  for  orphan  children  in  an  institution  for 
them. 

Such  direct  leading  was  not  to  be  withstood.  Dr. 
Conwell  called  on  a  former  chief  of  police  and  asked 
his  opinion  as  to  an  orphanage  for  the  children  of  fire- 


268  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

man  and  policeman.  The  policeman  welcomed  the 
project  heartily,  said  he  had  long  been  thinking  of  that 
very  problem,  and  that  if  it  were  started  by  a  re- 
sponsible person,  several  thousand  dollars  would  be 
given  by  the  policeman  for  its  support.  Still  wonder- 
ing if  he  should  take  such  leadings  as  indications  of 
a  definite  need,  Dr.  Conwell  went  to  his  study,  called 
in  some  of  his  church  advisers  and  talked  the  matter 
over.  ^Nothing  at  that  meeting  was  definitely  settled, 
because  some  work  interrupted  it  and  those  present 
dispersed  for  other  duties.  But  as  they  disbanded  and 
Dr.  Conwell  opened  his  mail,  a  check  fell  out  for  $75 
from  Eev.  Chas.  M.  Sheldon,  which  he  said  in  the 
letter  accompanying  it,  he  desired  to  give  toward  a 
movement  for  helping  needy  children. 

Dr.  Conwell  no  longer  hesitated,  and  the  Philadel- 
phia Orphans'  Plome  Society,  of  which  he  is  president, 
was  organized,  and  has  done  a  good  work'  in  caring 
for  helpless  little  ones,  giving  its  whole  effort  to  secur- 
ing permanent  homes  for  the  children  and  their  adoption 
into  lonely  families. 

Although  most  of  the  money  from  his  lectures  goes 
to  Temple  College,  he  uses  a  portion  of  it  to  support 
poor  students  elsewhere.  He  has  paid  for  the  educa- 
tion of  1,550  college  students  besides  contributing 
partly  to  the  education  of  hundreds  of  others.  In  fact, 
all  the  money  he  makes,  outside  of  what  is  required 
for  immediate  needs  of  his  family,  is  given  away.  He 
cares  so  little  for  money  for  himself,  his  wants  are  so 
few  and  simple,  that  he  seldom  pays  any  attention  as 
to  whether  he  has  enough  with  him  for  personal  use. 
He  found  once  when  starting  to'  lecture  in  ]^ew  Jersey 
that  after  he  had  bought  his  ticket  he  hadn't  a  cent 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  269 

left.  Thinkinc:,  however,  he  would  be  paid  when  the 
lecture  wns  over,  he  went  on.  But  the  lecture  com- 
mittee told  him  they  would  send  a  check.  Having  no 
money  to  pay  a  hotel  bill,  he  took  the  train  back. 
Reaching  Philadelphia  after  midnight  he  boarded  a 
trolley  and  told  the  conductor  who  he  was  and  his 
predicament,  offering  to  send  the  man  the  money  for 
his  fare  next  day.  But  the  conductor  was  not  to  be 
fooled,  said  he  didn't  know  Dr.  Conwell  from  Adam, 
and  put  him  off.  And  Dr.  Conwell  walked  twenty  long 
blocks  to  his  home,  chuckling  all  the  way  at  the  humor 
of  the  situation. 

He  has  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  as  his  audiences  know. 
Though  the  spiritual  side  of  his  nature  is  so  intense, 
his  love  of  fun  and  appreciation  of  the  humorous 
relieves  him  from  being  solemn  or  sanctimonious.  He 
is  sunny,  cheerful,  ever  ready  at  a  chance  meeting  with 
a  smile  or  a  joke.  Children,  who  as  a  rule  look  upon 
a  minister  as  a  man  enshrouded  in  solemn  dignity,  are 
delightfully  surprised  to  find  in  him  a  jolly,  fun-loving 
comrade,  a  fact  which  has  much  to  do  with  the  number 
of  young  people  who  throng  Grace  church  and  enter  its 
membership. 

The  closeness  of  his  walk  with  God  is  sho-\vn  in  his 
unbounded  faith,  in  the  implicit  reliance  he  has  in  the 
power  of  prayer.  Though  to  the  world  he  attacks  the 
problems  confronting  him  with  shrewd,  practical  busi- 
ness sense,  behind  and  underneath  this,  and  greater  than 
it  all,  is  the  earnestness  with  which  he  first  seeks  to 
know  the  w-ill  of  God  and  the  sincerity  with  which  he 
consecrates  himself  to  the  work.  Christ  is  to  him  a 
very  near  personal  friend,  in  very  truth  an  Elder 
Brother  to  whom  he  constantly  goes  for  guidance  and 


270  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

help,  Whose  will  he  wants  to  do  solely,  in  the  current 
of  Whose  purpose  he  wants  to  move.  "  Men  who  intend 
to  serve  the  Lord  should  consecrate  themselves  in  heart- 
searching  and  prayer,"  he  has  said  many  and  many  a 
time.     And  of  prayer  itself  he  says: 

"  There  is  planted  in  every  human  heart  this  knowl- 
edge, namely,  that  there  is  a  power  heyond  our  reach, 
a  mysterious  potency  shaping  the  forces  of  life,  which 
if  we  would  win  we  must  have  in  our  favor.  There 
come  to  us  all,  events  over  which  we  have  no  control 
by  physical  or  mental  power.  Is  there  any  hope  of  guid- 
ing those  mysterious  forces  ?  Yes,  friends,  there  is 
a  way  of  securing  them  in  our  favor  or  preventing  them 
from  going  against  us.  How?  It  is  by  prayer. 
When  a  man  has  done  all  he  can  do,  still  there  is  a 
mighty,  mysterious  agency  over  which  he  needs  influ- 
ence to  secure  success.  The  only  way  he  can  reach 
that  is  by  prayer." 

He  has  good  reason  to  believe  in  the  power  of  prayer, 
for  the  answers  he  has  received  in  some  cases  have 
seemed  almost  miraculous. 

When  The  Temple  was  being  built.  Dr.  Conwell  pro- 
posed that  the  new  pipe  organ  be  put  in  to  be  ready 
for  the  opening  service.  But  the  church  felt  it  would 
be  unwise  to  assume  such  an  extra  burden  of  debt  and 
voted  against  it.  Dr.  Conwell  felt  persuaded  that  the 
organ  ought  to  go  in,  and  spent  one  whole  night  in 
The  Temple  in  prayer  for  guidance.  As  the  result, 
he  decided  that  the  organ  should  be  built.  The  con- 
tract was  given,  the  first  payment  made,  but  when  in 
a  few  months  a  note  of  $1,500  came  due,  there  was 
not  a  cent  in  the  treasury  to  meet  it.  He  knew  it 
would  be  a  most  disastrous  blow  to  the  church  interests, 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  271 

with  such  a  vast  building  project  started,  to  have  that 
note  go  to  protest.  Yet  he  couldn't  ask  the  member- 
ship to  raise  the  money  since  it  had  voted  against  build- 
ing the  organ  at  that  time.  Disheartened,  full  of 
gloomy  foreboding,  he  came  Sunday  morning  to  the 
church  to  preach.  The  money  must  be  ready  next 
morning,  yet  he  knew  not  which  way  to  turn.  He  felt 
he  had  been  acting  in  accordance  with  God's  will,  for 
the  decision  had  been  made  after  a  night  of  earnest 
prayer.  Yet  here  stood  a  wall  of  Jericho  before  him 
and  no  divine  direction  came  as  to  how  to  make  it  fall. 
As  he  entered  his  study,  his  private  secretary  handed 
him  a  letter.  He  opened  it,  and  out  fell  a  check  for 
$1,500  from  an  unknown  man  in  Massillon,  Ohio,  who 
had  once  heard  Dr.  Conwell  lecture  and  felt  strangely 
impelled  to  send  him  $1,500  to  use  in  The  Temple 
work.  Dr.  Conwell  prayed  and  rejoiced  in  an  ecstasy 
of  gratitude.  Three  times  he  broke  down  during  the 
sermon.  His  people  wondered  what  was  the  matter, 
but  said  he  had  never  preached  more  powerfully. 

He  is  a  man  of  prayer  and  a  man>of  work.  Loving, 
great-hearted,  unselfish,  cheery,  practical,  hard-working, 
he  yet  draws  his  greatest  inspiration  from  that  silent 
inner  communion  with  the  Master  he  serves  with  such 
single-hearted,  unfaltering  devotion. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE  MANNER  OF  THE  MESSAGE 

The  Style  of  the  Sermons.     Their  Subject  Matter.     Preaching  to 
Help  Some  Individual  Church  Member. 

IIST  THE  pulpit,  Dr.  Conwell  is  as  simple  and  nat- 
ural as  he  is  in  his  study  or  in  the  home.  Every 
part  of  the  service  is  rendered  with  the  heart,  as 
well  as  the  understanding.  His  reading  of  a  chapter 
from  the  Bible  is  a  sermon  in  itself.  The  vast  con- 
gregation follow  it  with  as  close  attention  as  they  do  the 
sermon.  He  seems  to  make  every  verse  alive,  to  send 
it  with  new  meaning  into  each  heart.  The  people  in  it 
are  real  people,  who  have  lived  and  suffered,  who  had 
all  the  hopes  and  fears  of  men  and  women  of  to-day. 
Often  little  explanations  are  dropped  or  timely,  practical 
applications,  and  when  it  is  over,  if  that  were  all  of 
the  service  one  would  be  repaid  for  attending. 

The  hymns,  too,  are  read  with  feeling  and  life.  If 
a  verse  expresses  a  sentiment  contrary  to  the  church 
feeling,  it  is  not  sung.  He  will  not  have  sung  what 
is  not  worthy  of  belief. 

The  sermons  are  full  of  homely,  practical  illustra- 
tions, drawn  from  the  experiences  of  everyday  life. 
Dr.  Conwell  announces  his  text  and  begins  quite  sim- 
ply, sometimes  with  a  little  story  to  illustrate  his 
thought.     If  Bible  characters  take  any  part  in  it,  ho 

makes  them  real  men  and  women.     He  pictures  them 

272 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  273 

SO  graphically,  the  audience  sees  them,  hears  them  talk, 
knows  what  they  thought,  how  they  lived.  In  a  word, 
each  hearer  feels  as  if  he  had  met  them  personally. 
JSTever  again  are  they  mere  names.  They  are  living, 
breathing  men  and  women. 

Dr.  Conwell  makes  his  sermons  human  because  he 
touches  life,  the  life  of  the  past,  the  life  of  the  present, 
the  lives  of  those  in  his  audience.  He  makes  them 
interesting  by  his  word  pictures.  He  holds  attention 
by  the  dramatic  interest  he  infuses  into  the  theme.  He 
lias  been  called  the  "  Story-telling  Preacher  "  because 
his  sermons  are  so  full  of  anecdote  and  illustrations. 
But  eveiy  story  not  only  points  a  moral,  but  is  full 
of  the  interest  that  fastens  it  on  the  hearer's  mind. 
Children  in  their  teens  enjoy  his  sermons,  so  vivid 
are  they,  so  full  of  human,  every  day  interest  Yet 
all  this  is  but  the  framework  on  which  is  reared  some 
helpful,  inspiring  Biblical  truth  which  is  the  crown,  the 
climax,  and  which  because  of  its  careful  upbuilding 
by  story  and  homely  illustration  is  fixed  on  the  hearer's 
mind  and  heart  in  a  way  never  to  be  forgotten.  It  is 
held  there  by  the  simple  things  of  life  he  sees  about  him 
every  day,  and  which,  every  time  he  sees  them,  recall 
the  truth  he  has  heard  preached.  Dr.  Thomas  May 
Pierce,  speaking  of  Dr.  Conwell's  method  of  preaching, 
says: 

"  Spurgeon  sought  the  masses  and  found  them  by 
preaching  the  gospel  with  homely  illustrations ;  Russell 
H.  Conwell  comes  to  Philadelphia,  he  seeks  out  the 
masses,  he  finds  them  with  his  plain  presentation  of  the 
old,  old  story." 

Occasionally  he  paints  word  pictures  that  hold  the 
audience  enthralled,   or  when   some  ci'cat  wrontr  stirs 

18 


274  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

liim,  rises  to  heights  of  impassioned  oratory  that  bring 
his  audience  to  tears.  He  never  writes  out  his  sermons. 
Indeed,  often  he  has  no  time  to  give  them  any  prepara- 
tion whatever.  Sometimes  he  does  not  choose  his  text 
until  he  comes  on  the  platform.  ISTobody  regrets  more 
than  Dr.  Con  well  this  lack  of  preparation,  hut  so  many 
duties  press,  every  minute  has  so  many  burdens  of  work, 
that  it  is  impossible  at  times  to  crowd  in  a  thought  for 
the  sermon.  It  is  left  for  the  inspiration  of  the 
moment.  ^'  I  preach  poor  sermons  that  other  men  may 
preach  good  ones,"  he  remarked  once,  meaning  that  so 
much  of  his  time  was  taken  up  with  church  work  and 
lecturing  that  he  has  little  to  give  his  sermons,  and 
almost  all  of  the  fees  from  his  lectures  are  devoted  to 
the  education  of  men  for  the  ministry. 

His  one  purpose  in  his  sermons  is  to  bring  Christ  into 
the  lives  of  his  people,  to  bring  them  some  message 
from  the  word  of  God  that  will  do  thera  good,  make 
them  better,  lift  them  up  spiritually  to  a  higher  plane. 
His  people  know  he  comes  to  them  with  this  strong 
desire  in  his  heart  and  they  attend  the  services  feeling 
confident  that  even  though  he  is  poorly  prepared,  they 
will  nevertheless  get  practical  and  spiritual  help  for  the 
week. 

Wlien  he  knows  that  some  one  member  is  straggling 
with  a  special  problem  either  in  business,  in  the  home 
circle,  in  his  spiritual  life,  he  endeavors  to  weave  into 
his  sermon  something  that  will  help  him,  knowing  that 
no  heart  is  alone  in  its  sorrow,  that  the  burden  one 
bears,  others  carry,  and  Avhat  will  reach  one  will  carry 
a  message  or  cheer  to  many. 

"  Diiring  the  building  of  The  Temple,"  says  Smith 
in  his  interesting  life  of  Dr.  Conwell,  '*  a  devoted  mem- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  275 

ber,  who  was  in  the  bookbinding  business,  walked  to 
his  office  every  morning  and  put  his  ear-fare  into  the 
building  fund.  Dr.  Conwell  made  note  of  the  sacrifice, 
and  asked  himself  the  question,  '  How  can  I  help  that 
man  to  be  more  prosperous  ? '  He  kept  him  in  mind, 
and  while  on  a  lecturing  trip  he  visited  a  town  where 
improved  machines  for  bookbinding  were  employed. 
He  called  at  the  establishment  and  found  out  all  he 
could  about  tho  new  machines.  The  next  'Sunda|y 
morning,  he  used  the  new  bookbinder  as  an  illustration 
of  some  Scriptural  truth.  The  result  was,  the  church 
member  secured  the  machines  of  which  his  pastor  had 
spoken,  and  increased  his  income  many-fold.  The 
largest  sum  of  money  given  to  the  building  of  the  new 
Temple  was  given  by  that  same  bookbinder. 

"  A  certain-  lady  made  soap  for  a  fair  held  in  the 
Lower  Temple.  Dr.  Conwell  advised  her  to  go  into 
the  soap-making  business.  She  hesitated  to  take  his 
advice.  He  visited  a  well  known  soap  factory,  and  in 
one  of  his  sermons  described  the  most  improved  methods 
of  soap-making  as  an  illustration  >of  some  improved 
method  of  Christian  work.  Hearing  the  illustration 
used  from  the  pulpit,  the  lady  in  question  acted  on  the 
pastor's  previous  advice,  and  started  her  nephew  in  the 
soap  business,  in  which  he  has  prospered. 

"  A  certain  blacksmith  in  Philadelphia  who  was  a 
member  of  Grace  Church,  but  who  lived  in  another  part 
of  the  city,  was  advised  by  Dr.  Conwell  to  start  a 
mission  in  his  neighborhood.  The  mechanic  pleaded 
ignorance  and  his  inability  to  acquire  sufficient  educa- 
tion to  enable  him  to  do  any  kind  of  Christian  work. 
On  Sunday  morning  Dr.  Conwell  wove  into  his  sermon 
an  historical  sketch  of  Elihu  Burritt,  that  poor  boy  with 


276  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

meagre  school  advantages,  who  bound  out  to  a  black- 
smith at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  compelled  to  associate 
with  the  ignorant,  yet  learned  thirty-three  languages, 
became  a  scholar  and  an  orator  of  fame.  The  hesi- 
tating blacksmith,  encouraged  by  the  example  of  Elihu 
Burritt,  took  courage  and  went  to  work.  He  founded 
the  mission  which  soon  grew  into  the  Tioga  Baptist 
Church." 

In  addition  to  helping  his  own  church  members,  this 
method  of  preaching  had  other  results.  Smith  gives  the 
following  instance : 

"  A  few  years  ago  the  pastor  of  a  small  country  church 
in  Massachusetts  resolved  to  try  Dr.  Conwell's  method 
of  imparting  useful  information  through  his  illustra- 
tions, and  teaching  the  people  what  they  needed  to 
know.  Acting  on  Dr.  Conwell's  advice,  he  studied 
agricultural  chemistry,  dairy  farming,  and  household 
economy.  He  did  not  become  a  sensationalist  and  ad- 
vertise to  preach  on  these  subjects,  but  he  brought  in 
many  helpful  illustrations  which  the  people  recognized 
as  valuable,  and  soon  the  meeting-house  w^as  filled  with 
eager  listeners.  After  careful  study  the  minister  be- 
came convinced  that  the  fanuers  on  those  old  worn-out 
farms  in  Western  Massachusetts  should  go  into  the 
dairy  business,  and  feed  their  cows  on  ensilage  through 
the  long  ]^ew  England  winter.  One  bright  morning 
he  preached  a  sermon  on  '  Leaven,'  and  incidentally  used 
a  silo  as  an  illustration.  The  preacher  did  not  sacrifice 
his  sermon  to  his  illustration,  but  taught  a  great  tnith 
and  set  the  farmers  to  thinking  along  a  new  line.  As 
a  result  of  that  sermon  one  poor  farmer  built  a  silo 
and  filled  it  with  green  com  in  the  autumn;  his  cows 
relished  the  new  food  and  repaid  him  splendidly  with 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  277 

milk.  That  farmer  is  tlio  richest  man  in  the  country 
to-day.  This  is  only  one  of  a  great  many  ways  in 
which  that  practical  preacher  helped  his  poor,  struggling 
parishioners  by  using  the  Conwell  method.  What  was 
the  spiritual  result  of  such  preaching  among  the  country 
people  ?  He  had  a  great,  wide,  and  deep  revival  of 
religion,  the  first  the  church  had  enjoyed  for  twenty- 
five  years." 

Thus  Dr.  Conwell  weaves  practical  sense  and  spir- 
itual truths  together  in  a  way  that  helps  people  for  the 
span  of  life  they  live  in  this  world,  for  the  eternal  life 
heyond.  ,  He  never  forgets  the  soul  and  its  needs. 
That  is  his  foremost  thought.  But  he  recognizes  also 
that  there  is  a  body  and  that  it  lives  in  a  practical 
world.  And  whenever  and  wherever  he  can  help  prac- 
tically, as  well  as  spiritually,  he  does  it,  realizing  that 
the  world  needs  Christians  who  have  the  means  as  well 
as  the  spirit  to  carr|y  forward  Christ's  work. 

Speaking  of  his  methods  of  preaching,  Rev.  Albert 
G.  Lawson,  D.  D.,  says: 

*'  He  has  been  blessed  in  his  -ministry  because  of 
three  thing-s:  He  has  a  democratic,  philosophic,  phil- 
anthropic bee  in  his  bonnet,  a  big  one,  too,  and  he 
has  attempted  to  bring  us  to  see  that  churches  mean 
something  beside  fine  houses  and  good  music.  There 
must  be  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  when  a  man  is 
lost,  he  is  lost  in  body  as  well  as  in  soul.  One  needs, 
therefore,  as  our  Lord  would,  to  begin  at  the  founda- 
tions, the  building  anew  of  the  mind  with  the  body; 
and  I  bless  God  for  the  democratic,  and  the  philosophic, 
and  the  philanthropic  idea  which  is  manifest  in  this 
strong  church.  I  hope  there  will  be  enough  power  in 
it  to  make  every  Baptist  minister  sick  until  he  tries 


278  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

to  occupy  the  same  field  that  Jesus  Christ  did  in  his 
life  and  ministry ;  until  every  one  of  the  churches  shall 
recognize  the  privilege  of  having  Jesus  Christ  reshaped 
in  the  men  and  women  near  them." 


CHAPTEE  XXXIT 

THESE  BUSY  LATER  DAYS 

A  Typical  Week  Day.     A  Typical  Sunday.     Mrs.  Conwell.     Back 
to  the  Berkshires  in  Summer  for  Rest. 

BY  THE  record  of  what  Dr.  Conwell  has  accom- 
plished may  be  judged  how  busy  are  his  days. 
In  early  youth  he  learned  to  use  his  time 
to  the  best  advantage.  Studying  and  working  on  the 
farm,  working  and  studying  at  Wilbraham  and  Yale, 
told  him  how  precious  is  each  minute.  Work  he  must 
when  he  wanted  to  study.  Study  he  must  when  he 
needed  to  work.  Every  minute  became  as  carefully 
treasured  as  though  it  were  a  miser's  gold.  But  it  was 
excellent  training  for  the  busy  later  days  when  work 
would  press  from  all  sides  until  it  was  distraction  to 
know  what  to  do  first. 

"  Do  the  next  thing,"  is  the  advice  he  gives  his  col- 
lege students.  It  is  undoubtedly  a  saving  of  time  to 
take  the  work  that  lies  immediately  at  hand  and  de- 
spatch it  But  when  the  hand  is  surrounded  by  work 
in  a  score  of  important  forms,  all  clamoring  for  recogni- 
'  tion,  what  is  "  the  next  thing "  becomes  a  question 
difficult  to  decide. 

Then  it  is  that  one  must  plan  as  carefully  to  use  one's 
minutes  as  he  does  to  expend  one's  income  when  ex- 
penses outrun  it. 

279 


280  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

His  private  secretary  gave  the  following  account,  in 
tlie  "  Temple  Magazine,"  of  a  week  day  and  a  Sunday 
in  Dr.  ConwelFs  life: 

"  j^o  two  days  are  alike  in  his  work,  and  lie  has  no 
specified  hour  for  definite  classes  of  calls  or  kinds  of 
w^ork. 

"  After  breakfast  he  goes  to  his  ofiice  in  The  Temple. 
Here  visitors  from  half  a  dozen  to  twenty  await  him, 
representing  a  great  variety  of  needs  or  business. 

"  Visitors  wait  their  turn  in  the  ante-room  of  his 
study  and  are  received  by  him  in  the  order  of  their 
arrival.  The  importance  of  business,  rank  or  social 
position  of  the  caller  does  not  interfere  with  this  order. 

"  Throughout  the  whole  day  in  the  street,  at  the 
church,  at  the  College,  wherever  he  goes,  he  is  beset 
by  persons  urging  him  for  money,  free  lectures,  to  write 
introductions  to  all  sorts  of  books,  for  sermons,  or  to 
take  up  collections  for  indigent  individuals  or  churches. 
Letters  reach  him  even  from  Canada,  asking  him  to  take 
care  of  some  aunt,  uncle,  runaway  son,  or  needy  family, 
in  Philadelphia.  Sometimes  for  days  together  he  does 
not  secure  five  minutes  to  attend  to  his  correspondence. 
Personal  letters  which  he  must  answer  himself  often 
wait  for  weeks  before  he  can  attend  to  them,  although 
he  endeavors,  as  a  rule,  to  answer  important  letters  on 
the  day  they  are  received.  People  call  to  request  him 
to  deliver  addresses  'at  the  dedication  of  churches, 
schoolhouses,  colleges,  flag-raisings,  commencements, 
and  anniversaries,  re-unions,  political  meetings,  and  all 
manner  of  reform  movements.  Authors  urge  him  to 
read  their  work  in  manuscript ;  orators  without  orations 
write  to  him  and  come  to  him  for  address  or  sermon; 
applications  flow  in  for  letters  of  introduction  highly 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  281 

recommending  entire  strangers  for  anything  they  want. 
Agents  for  books  come  to  him  for  endorsements,  with 
religions  newspapers  for  subscriptions  and  articles,  and 
with  patent  medicines  urging  him  to  be  '  cured  with 
one  bottle.' 

"  It  is  well  known  that  he  was  a  lawyer  before  enter- 
ing the  ministry,  and  orphans,  guardians,  widows,  and 
5^oung  men  entering  business  come  to  him  asking  him 
to  make  wills,  contracts,  etc.,  and  to  give  them  points 
of  law  concerning  their  undertakings.  Weddings  and 
funerals  claim  his  attention.  Urgent  messages  to  visit 
the  sick  and  the  dying  and  the  unfortunate  come  to  him, 
and  these  appeals  are  answered  first  either  by  himself 
or  the  associate  pastor ;  the  cries  of  the  suffering  making 
the  most  eloquent  of  all  appeals  to  these  two  busy  men." 

Frequently  he  comes  to  the  church  again  in  the  after-' 
noon  to  meet  some  one  by  appointment.  Both  after- 
noon and  evening  are  crowded  with  engagements  to  see 
people,  to  make  addresses,  to  attend  special  meetings  of 
Various  kinds,  with  College  and  Hospital  duties. 

"  I  am  expected  to  preside  at  si±  different  meetings 
to-night,"  he  said  smilingly  to  a  friend  at  The  Temple 
one  evening  as  the  membership  began  to  stream  in  to 
look  after  its  different  lines  of  work. 

Much  of  the  time  during  the  winter  he  is  away  lec- 
turing, but  he  keeps  in  constant  communication  with 
The  Temple  and  its  work.  By  letter,  wire  or  telephone 
he  is  ready  to  respond  to  any  emergency  requir- 
ing his  advice  or  suggestion.  These  lecture  trips  carry 
him  all  over  the  country,  but  they  are  so  carefully 
planned  that  with  rare  exceptions  he  is  in  the  pulpit 
Sunday  morning.  Frequently,  when  returning,  he 
wires  for  his  secretary  to  meet  him  part  way,  if  from 


282  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

the  West,  at  Harrisburg  or  Altoona ;  if  from  tlie  South, 
at  Washington  or  beyond.  The  secretary  brings  the 
mail  and  the  remaining  hours  of  the  journey  are  filled 
with  work,  dictating  letters,  articles  for  magazines  or 
press,  possibly  material  for  a  book,  whatever  work  most 
presses. 

Pastoral  calls  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  term  cannot 
be  made  in  a  membership  of  more  than  three  thousand. 
B'ut  visits  to  the  sick,  to  the  poor,  to  the  dying,  are  paid 
whenever  the  call  comes.  To  help  and  console  the 
afflicted,  to  point  the  way  to  Christ,  is  the  work  nearest 
and  dearest  to  Dr.  Conwell's  heart  and  always  comes 
first.  Funerals,  too,  claim  a  large  part  of  the  pastor's 
time,  seven  in  one  day  among  the  Grace  Church  mem- 
bership calling  for  the  services  of  both  Dr.  Conwell  and 
his  associate.  Weddings  are  not  an  unimportant  feature, 
six  having  been  one  day's  record  at  The  Temple. 

Of  his  Sundays,  his  secretary  says : 

"  From  the  time  of  rising  until  half-past  eight,  he 
gives  special  attention  to  the  subject  of  the  morning  ser- 
mon, and  usually  selects  his  text  and  general  line  of 
thought  before  sitting  down  to  breakfast.  After  family 
prayers,  he  spends  half  an  hour  in  his  study,  at  home, 
examining  books  and  authorities  in  the  completion 
of  his  sermon.  Sometimes  he  is  unable  to  select  a 
text  until  reaching  The  Temple.  He  has,  though 
rarely,  made  his  selection  after  taking  his  place  at  the 
pulpit. 

"  At  nine-thirty,  he  is  always  promptly  in  his  place 
at  the  opening  of  the  Young  Men's  prayer-meeting  or  at 
the  Women's  prayer-meeting  in  the  Lower  Temple.  At 
the   Young  Men's   meeting  he   plays   the   organ   and 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  283 

leads  the  singing.  If  he  takes  any  other  part  in  the 
meeting  he  is  very  brief,  in  talk  or  prayer. 

"  At  half-past  ten  he  goes  directly  to  the  Upper 
Temple,  where  as  a  rule  he  conducts  all  the  exercises 
with  the  exception  of  the  '  notices  '  and  a  prayer  offered 
by  the  associate  pastor,  or  in  his  absence  at  an  overflow 
service  in  the  Lower  Temple,  by  the  dean  of  the  College 
or  chaplain  of  the  Hospital.  The  pastor  meets  the  can- 
didates for  baptism  in  his  study  before  service,  for 
conference  and  prayer.  In  administering  the  ordi- 
nance, he  is  assisted  by  the  associate  pastor,  who  leads 
the  candidates  into  the  baptistry. 

"  The  pastor  reads  the  hymns.  It  is  his  custom  to 
preach  without  any  notes  whatever;  rarely,  a  scrap  of 
paper  may  lie  on  the  desk  containing  memoranda  or 
suggestions  of  leading  thoughts,  but  frequently  even 
when  this  is  the  case  the  notes  are  ignored. 

"  A  prominent  —  possibly  the  prevailing  —  idea  in 
the  preparation  of  his  sermons  is  the  need  of  individ- 
uals in  his  congregation.  He  aims  to  say  those  things 
which  will  be  the  most  helpful  and  inspiring  to  the 
unconverted  seeking  Christ,  or  to  the  Christian  desir- 
ing to  lead  a  nobler  spiritual  life.  It  may  be  said  of 
nearly  all  his  illustrations  that  they  present  such  a 
variety  of  spiritual  teaching  that  different  persons  will 
catch  from  them  different  suggestions  adapted  to  needs 
of  each. 

"  The  morning  service  closes  promptly  at  twelve 
o'clock;  then  follows  an  informal  reception  for  thirty 
minutes  or  it  may  be  an  hour,  for  hundreds,  sometimes 
a  thousand  and  more,  many  of  them  visitors  from  other 
cities  and  states,  press  forward  to  shake  hands  with 
him.     This,  Dr.  Conwell  considers  an  important  part 


2S4  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

of  his  cluircli  wdvk,  ,c;iviiipj  lilin  nn  opportunity  to  moct 
inniiy  of  tln>  clinrcli  mciiibcra  nnd  extend  personal  j^rect- 
i Ilia's  to  ilioso  whom  lio  wonhl  have  no  possible  oppor- 
tunity to  visit  in  their  homes. 

"  He  (lines  at.  one  o'eloek.  At  two,  he  is  in  The  Tem- 
ple ;  ap,'ain  he  receives  more  callers,  and  if  possible 
makes  some  preparation  for  services  of  the  afternoon, 
in  connection  with  the  Sunday-school  work.  At  two- 
thirty,  he  is  ]n-esent  at  the  openinc;  of  tlio  Junior  de- 
])artmcnt  of  the  Sunday-school  in  the  Lower  Temple, 
■whore  he  takes  g;reat  interest  in  the  sinn:in<j,  which  is  a 
special  feature  of  that  di^parlment.  At  three  o'clock, 
he  ap])ears  ]>romptly  on  tlu^  ]ilatform  in  the  auditorium 
where  the  Adult  department  of  the  Sunday-school  meets, 
givers  a  short  ex]iosition  of  the  lesson  for  the  day,  and 
answei's  from  the  Question  Box.  These  cover  a  great 
variety  of  subjects,  from  the  absurdity  of  some  craek- 
hrained  crank  to  the  pathetic  ap]ieal  of  somo  necnly  soul. 
Some  of  thos(^  questions  may  be  sent  in  by  mail  durinpj 
the  wc(>k,  but  the  Gjreator  part  of  them  are  handed  to 
the  ])astor  by  the  ushers.  To  secure  an  answcn*  the  ques- 
tion must  be  upon  some  subject  connected  with  relicions 
life  or  experience,  some  tliemo  of  Christian  ethics  in 
everyday  life. 

"When  the  questions  are  answered,  the  pastor  re- 
turns t.o  the  T-iOwer  Temple,  f^oinc;  to  the  Junior,  Inter- 
mediate, or  TCindergarten  department  to  assist  in  the 
closing'  exercises.  At  the  close  of  the  Sunday-school 
session,  teachers  and  scholars  surround  him,  seekine; 
information  or  advice  concerninc;  the  school  work,  their 
Christian  experience  or  perhaps  to  tell  him  their  desire 
to  unite  with  the  church.* 

•  T.ntely   (lOOri),   however,   he  hns  had  to  Kive  up   much   of  this   Sunday- 
school  work  on  nccount  of  the  need  of  rest. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  285 

"  As  a  rule,  he  leaves  The  Temple  at  five  o'clock.  If 
he  finds  no  visitors  with  appeals  for  counsel  or  assist- 
ance waitinp;  for  him  at  his  home,  ho  lies  down  for  hiilf 
an  hour.  Usually  the  visitors  are  there,  and  his  half- 
hour  rest  is  postponed  until  after  the  evening  service. 

"  Supper  at  five-thirty,  after  which  he  goes  to  his 
study  to  prepare  for  the  evening  service,  selecting  his 
subject  and  looking  up  such  references  as  he  thinks  may 
be  useful.  At  seven-fifteen,  he  is  in  The  Temple  again, 
often  visiting  for  a  few  moments  one  of  the  Christian 
Endeavor  societies,  several  of  which  are  at  that  time  in 
session  in  the  Lower  Temple.  At  half-past  seven  the 
general  service  is  held  in  the  auditorium.  The  even- 
ing sermon  is  published  weekly  in  the  "  Temple  Ee- 
view."  He  gives  all  portions  of  this  service  full  atten- 
tion. 

"  At  nine  o'clock  this  service  closes,  and  the  pastor 
goes  once  more  to  the  Lower  Temple,  where  both  con- 
gregations, the  '  main  '  and  the  '  overflow  '  unite,  so 
far  as  is  possible,  in  a  union  prayer  service.  The  hall 
of  the  Lower  Temple  and  the  rooms  connected  with  it 
are  always  overcrowded  at  this  service  meeting,  and 
many  are  unable  to  get  within  hearing  of  the  speakers 
on  the  platform.  Here  Dr.  Conwell  presides  at  the 
organ  and  has  general  direction  of  the  evangelistic  ser- 
vices, assisted  by  the  associate  pastor.  As  enquirers 
rise  for  prayers, —  the  prayers  of  God's  people, —  Dr. 
Conwell  makes  note  of  each  one,  and  to  their  great  sur- 
prise recognizes  them  when  he  meets  them  on  the  street 
or  at  another  service,  long  afterward.  This  union 
meeting  is  followed  by  another  general  reception  espe- 
cially intended  for  a  few  words  of  personal  conversa- 
tion with  those  who  have  risen  for  prayer  and  with 


286  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

straii<5ers  who  are  brouf^lit  forward  and  introduced  hy 
members  of  the  churfh.  This  is  thfi  most  fatiguing 
part  of  tho  day's  work  and  oc/'upics  from  one  hour  to 
an  hour  and  a  half,  lie  roadies  home  a}>out  eleven 
o'clock,  and  before  retiring  makes  a  careful  memoranda 
of  sufh  people  as  have  requested  him  to  pray  for  them, 
and  such  otiier  matters  as  may  require  his  attention 
during  tho  week.  lie  seldom  gets  to  bed  much  before 
midnight." 

Tn  all  the  crowd  and  pressure  of  work,  he  is  ably  as- 
sisted by  Mrs.  Conwcll.  In  the  early  da|ys  of  his  min- 
istry at  Clrace  Church  she  was  his  private  secretary,  but 
as  the  work  grew  for  both  of  them,  slio  was  compelled  to 
give  tliis  up. 

She  enters  into  all  her  husband's  work  and  plans 
witli  choory,  hc]f)ful  cntliusiasm.  Yet  her  hands  are 
full  of  lif-r  own  special  churfh  work,  for  she  is  a  most 
iinport,ant  moniber  of  the  various  working,  associations 
of  lh<!.  church,  college  and  hospital.  For  many  years 
she  was  treasurer  of  the  large  annual  fairs  of  The  Tem- 
ple, as  well  as  being  at  the  head  of  a  number  of  largo 
teas  and  fairs  held  for  the  benefit  of  Samaritan  Hospi- 
tal. In  addition  to  all  ihls  church  and  charitable  work, 
she  make«  the  home  a  hn])py  centre  of  the  brightest  so- 
cial  life  and  a  quiet,  well-ordered  retreat  for  the  tired 
preacher  and  lecturer  when  he  needs  rest. 

A  writer  in  "  The  Ladies'  TTome  Journal,"  in  a  series 
of  articles  on  "  Wives  of  Famous  Pastors,"  says  of  Mrs. 
(?onwell : 

"  Mrs.  Conwell  finds  her  greatest  happiness  in  her 
husband's  work,  and  gives  him  always  her  sympathy 
and  devotion.  She  passes  ma^iy  hours  at  work  by  his 
side  when  he  is  unable  to  notice  her  by  word  or  look; 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  287 

she  knows  he  delights  in  her  presence,  for  he  often  says 
when  writing,  '  I  can  do  better  if  you  remain.'  Her 
whole  life  is  wrapped  up  in  the  work  of  The  Temple, 
and  all  those  multitudinous  enterprises  connected  with 
that  most  successful  of  churches. 

"  She  makes  an  ideal  wife  for  a  pastor  whose  work 
is  varied  and  whose  time  is  as  interrupted  as  are  Mr. 
Conwell's  work  and  time.  On  her  husband's  lecture  toura 
she  looks  well  after  bin  comfort,  seeing  to  those  things 
which  a  busy  and  earnest  man  is  almost  sure  to  overlook 
and  neglect.  In  all  things  he  finds  her  his  helpmeet 
and  caretaker." 

From  this  busy  life  the  family  escape  in  summer  to 
Dr.  Conwell's  boyhood  home  in  the  Berkshires.  Hero 
amid  the  hills  ho  loves,  with  the  brook  of  his  boyhood 
days  again  singing  him  to  sleep,  he  rests  and  recuperates 
for  the  coming  winter's  campaign. 

The  little  farmhonse  is  vastly  changed  since  those 
early  days.  Many  additions  have  been  made,  modern 
improvements  added,  spacious  porches  surround  it  on 
all  sides,  and  a  green,  velvety  lawn  dotted  with  shrub- 
bery and  flowers  has  replaced  the  rocks  and  stones,  the 
sparse  grass  of  fifty  years  ago.  If  Martin  and  Miranda 
Conwell  could  return  and  see  the  little  house  now 
with  its  artistic  furnishings,  its  walls  hung  with  pictures 
from  those  very  lands  the  mother  read  her  boy  about, 
they  would  think  miracles  had  indeed  come  to  pnss. 

In  front  of  the  house  whore  once  flashed  a  little  brook 
that  "  set  the  silences  to  rhyme  "  is  now  a  silvery  lake 
framed  in  "rich  green  foliage.  Up  in  the  hill  where 
swayed  the  old  hemlock  with  the  eagle's  nest  for  a 
crown  rises  an  observatory.  From  the  top  one  gazes 
in  summer  into  a  billowy  sea  of  green  in  which  the 


288  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

spire  of  the  Methodist  church  rises  like  a  far  distant 
white  sail. 

It  is  a  happy  family  that  gathers  in  the  old  Home- 
stead dnring  the  summer  days.  His  daughter,  now 
Mrs.  Tuttle,  comes  with  her  children,  Mr.  Tuttle,  who 
is  a  civil  engineer,  joining  them  when  his  work  per- 
mits. Dr.  Conwell's  son  Leon,  proprietor  and  editor 
of  the  Somerville  (Mass.)  "Journal,"  with  his  wife 
and  child,  always  spend  as  much  of  the  summer  there 
as  possible.  One  vacant  chair  there  is  in  the  happy 
family  circle.  AgTies,  the  only  child  of  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Conwell,  died  in  1901,  in  her  twenty-sixth  year.  She 
was  the  wife  of  Alfred  Barker.  A  remarkably  bright 
and  gifted  girl,  clever  with  her  pen,  charming  in  her 
personality,  an  enthusiastic  and  successful  worker  in 
tlie  many  interests  of  church,  college  and  hospital,  her 
death  was  a  sad  loss  to  her  family  and  friends. 

ISTot  only  the  beauty  of  the  place  but  the  associations 
bring  rest  and  peace  to  the  tired  spirit  of  the  busy 
preacher  and  lecturer,  and  he  returns  to  his  work  re- 
freshed, ready  to  take  up  with  rekindled  energy  and 
enthusiasm  the  tasks  awaiting  him. 

Thus  his  busy  life  goes  on,  full  of  unceasing  work 
for  the  good  of  others.  Over  his  bed  hangs  a  gold 
sheathed  sword  which  to  him  is  a  daily  inspiration  to 
do  some  deed  worthy  of  the  sacrifice  which  it  typifies. 
"  I  look  at  it  each  morning,"  said  Dr,  Conwell  to  a 
friend,  "  and  pray  for  help  to  do  something  that  day 
to  make  my  life  worthy  of  such  a  sacrifice."  And 
each  day  he  prays  the  prayer  his  father  prayed  for 
him  in  boyhood  days,  "  May  no  person  be  the  worse  be- 
cause I  have  lived  this  day,  but  may  some  one  be  the 
better." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

AS  A  LECTURER 

His  Wide  Fame  as  a  Lecturer.  Date  of  Entrance  on  Lecture 
Platform.  Number  of  Lectures  Given.  The  Press  on  His  Lec- 
tures. Some  Instances  of  How  His  Lectures  Have  Helped 
People.     Address  at  Banquet  to  President  McKinley. 

I]Sr  the .  maze  of  this  church,  college  and  hospital 
■work,  Dr.  Conwell  finds  time  to  lecture  from  one 
hundred  to  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  times  in 
a  year.  Indeed,  he  frequently  leaves  Philadelphia  at 
midnight  after  a  Sunday  of  hard  work,  travels  and  lec- 
tures as  far  as  Kansas  and  is  hack  again  for  Friday 
evening  prayer  meeting  and  for  his  duties  the  following 
Sunday. 

As  a  lecturer,  he  is  prohahly  known  to  a  greater  num- 
ber of  people  than  he  is  as  a  preacher,  for  his  lecturing 
trips  take  him  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  Since 
he  began,  he  has  delivered  more  than  six  thousand  lec- 
tures. 

He  has  been  on  the  lecture  platform  since  the  year 
1862,  giving  on  an  average  of  two  hundred  lectures  in  a 
year.  In  addition,  he  has  addressed  many  of  the  largest 
conventions  in  America  and  preaches  weekly  to  an  audi- 
ence of  more  than  three  thousand.  So  that  he  has  un- 
doubtedly addressed  more  people  in  America  tlian  any 
man  living.  He  is  to-day  one  of  the  most  eminent  and 
most  popular  figures  on  the  lecture  platform  of  this  coun- 

289 


290  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

try,  tlie  last  of  the  galaxy  of  such  men  as  Gough, 
Beecher,  Chapin.  "  There  are  but  ten  real  American 
lecturers  on  the  American  platform  to-day,"  says  "  Les- 
lie's Weekly."  "  Russell  Conwell  is  one  of  the  ten  and 
probably  the  most  eminent." 

His  lectures,  like  his  sermons,  are  full  of  practical 
help  and  good  sense.  They  are  profusely  illustrated 
with  anecdote  and  story  that  fasten  the  thought  of  his 
subject.  He  uses  no  notes,  and  gives  his  lecture  little 
thought  during  the  day.  Indeed,  he  often  does  not 
know  the  subject  until  he  hears  the  chairman  announce 
it.  If  the  lecture  is  new  or  one  that  he  has  not  given 
for  many  years,  he  occasionally  has  a  few  notes  or  a 
brief  outline  before  him.  But  usually  he  is  so  full  of 
the  subject,  ideas  and  illustrations  so  crowd  his  mind 
that  he  is  troubled  with  the  wealth,  rather  than  the 
dearth,  of  material.  He  rarely  gives  a  lecture  twice 
alike.  The  main  thought,  of  course,  is  the  same.  But 
new  experiences  suggest  new  illustrations,  and  so,  no 
matter  how  many  times  one  hears  it,  he  always  hears 
something  new.  "  That's  the  third  time  I've  heard 
'  Acres  of  'Diamonds, "  said  on©  delighted  auditor, 
*'  and  every  time  it  grows  better." 

Perhaps  the  best  idea  of  his  lectures  can  be  gleaned 
from  the  press  notices  that  have  appeared,  though  ho 
never  keeps  a  press  notice  himself,  nor  pays  any  at- 
tention to  the  compliments  that  may  have  been  paid  him. 
These  that  have  been  collected  at  random  by  friends 
by  no  means  cover  the  field  of  what  has  been  said  or 
written  about  him. 

Speaking  of  a  lecture  in  1870,  when  he  toured  En- 
gland, the  London  "  Telegraph  "  says : 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  291 

"  The  man  is  weirdly  like  his  native  hills.  You  can 
hear  the  cascades  and  the  trickling  streams  in  his  tone 
of  voice.  He  has  a  strange  and  unconscious  power  of 
so  modulating  his  voice  as  to  suggest  the  roar  of  the 
tempest  in  rocky  declivities,  or  the  soft  echo  of  music 
in  distant  valleys.  The  breezy  freshness  and  natural 
suggestiveness  of  varied  nature  in  its  wild  state  was 
completely  fascinating.  He  excelled  in  description, 
and  the  auditor  could  almost  hear  the  Niagara  roll 
as  he  described  it,  and  listened  to  catch  the  sound  of 
sighing  pines  in  his  voice  as  he  told  of  the  Carolinas.'* 

"  The  lecture  was  wonderful  in  clearness,  powerful, 
and  eloquent  in  delivery,"  says  the  London  "  News." 
"  The  speaker  made  the  past  a  living  present,  and  led 
the  audience,  unconscious  of  time,  with  him  in  his 
walks  and  talks  with  famous  men.  "When  engrossed  in 
his  lecture  his  facial  expression  is  a  study.  His  coun- 
tenance conveys  more  quickly  than  his  words  the 
thought  which  he  is  elucidating,  and  when  he  refers 
to  his  Maker,  his  face  takes  on  an  expression  indescriba- 
ble for  its  purity.  He  seems  to  hold  the  people  as  chil- 
dren stare  at  brilliant  and  startling  pictures." 

"  It  is  of  no  use  to  try  to  report  Conwell's  lectures," 
is  the  verdict  of  the  Springfield  "  Union."  "  They  are 
unique.  Unlike  anything  or  any  one  else.  Filled  with 
good  sense,  brilliant  with  new  suggestions,  and  inspiring 
always  to  noble  life  and  deeds,  they  always  please  with 
their  wit.  The  reader  of  his  addresses  does  not  know 
the  full  power  of  the  man." 

"  His  stories  are  always  singularly  adapted  to  the  lec- 
turer's purpose.  .  Each  story  is  mirth-provoking.  Tlie 
audience  chuckled,  shook,  swayed,  and  roared  with  con- 
vulsions of  laughter,"  says  the  "  London  Times."     "  He 


292  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

has  been  in  the  lecture  field  but  a  few  years,  j^et  he  has 
already  made  a  place  beside  such  men  as  Phillips, 
Bcecher,  and  Chapin." 

"  The  only  lecturer  in  America,"  concludes  the  Phil- 
adelphia "  Times,"  "  who  can  fill  a  hall  in  this  city 
with  three  thousand  people  at  a  dollar  a  ticket." 

The  most  popular  of  all  his  lectures  is  "  Acres  of 
Diamonds,"  which  he  has  given  3,420  times,  which  is 
printed,  in  part,  at  the  end  of  the  book.  But  his  list  of 
lectures  is  a  long  one,  including : 

"  The  Philosophy  of  History." 

"  Men  of  the  Mountains." 

"  The  Old  and  the  E'ew  iS^ew  England." 

"  My  Fallen  Comrades." 

"  The  Dust  of  Our  Battlefields." 

"  Was  it  a  Ghost  Story  ?  " 

"  The  Unfortunate  Chir.ese." 

"  Three  Scenes  in  Babylon." 

"  Three  Scenes  from  the  Mount  of  Olives." 

"  Americans  in  Europe." 

"  General  Grant's  Empire." 

"  Princess  Elizabeth." 

"  Guides." 

"  Success  in  Life." 

"  The  Undiscovered." 

"  The  Silver  Crown,  or  Born  a  King." 

"  Heroism  of  a  Private  Life." 

"  The  Jolly  Earthquake." 

"  Heroes  and  Heroines." 

"  Garibaldi,  or  the  Power  of  Blind  Faith." 

"  The  Angel's  Lily." 

"  The  Life  of  Columbus." 

"  Five  Million  Dollars  for  the  Face  of  the  ]Moon." 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  293 

"  Henry  Ward  Beecher.'* 

"  That  Horrid  Turk." 

"  Cuba's  Appeal  to  the  United  States." 

"  Anita,  the  Feminine  Torch." 

"  Personal  Glimpses  of  Celebrated  Men  and 
Women." 

His  lecturing  tours  now  are  confined  to  the  United 
States,  as  his  church  duties  will  not  permit  him  to  go 
farther  afield,  but  so  wide  is  his  fame  that  a  few  years 
ago  he  declined  an  offer  of  $39,000  for  a  six  months' 
engagement  in  Australia.  This  year  (1905)  he  re- 
ceived an  offer  of  $50,000  for  two  hundred  lectures  in 
Australia  and  England. 

He  lectures,  as  he  preaches,  with  the  earnest  desire 
ever  uppermost  to  help  some  one.  He  never  goes  to  a 
lecture  engagement  without  a  definite  prayer  to  God 
that  his  words  may  be  so  directed  as  to  do  some  good 
to  the  community  or  to  some  individual.  When  he  has 
delivered  "  Acres  of  Diamonds,"  he  frequently  leaves 
a  sum  of  money  with  the  editor  of  the  leading  paper 
in  the  town  to  be  given  as  a  prize  for  any  one  who  ad- 
vances the  most  practical  idea  for  using  waste  forces 
in  the  neighborhood.  In  one  .Vermont  town  where  he 
had  lectured,  the  money  was  won  by  a  young  man  who 
after  a  careful  study  of  the  products  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, said  he  believed  the  lumber  of  that  section  was 
especially  adapted  to  the  making  of  coffins.  A  sum  of 
$2,000  was  raised,  the  water  power  harnessed  and  a  fac- 
tory started. 

A  man  in  Michigan  who  was  on  the  verge  of  bank- 
ruptcy, having  lost  heavily  in  real  estate  speculation, 
heard  "  Acres  of  Diamonds,"  and  started  in,  as  the 
lecture  advises,  right  at  home  to  rebuild  his  fortunes. 


294  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELi; 

Instead  of  giving  up,  he  began  the  same  business  again, 
fought  a  plucky  fight  and  is  now  president  of  the  bank 
and  a  leading  financier  of  the  town. 

A  poor  fanner  of  Western  Massachusetts,  finding  it 
impossible  to  make  a  living  on  his  stony  place,  had  made 
up  his  mind  to  move  and  advertised  his  farm  for  sale. 
He  heard  "  iVcres  of  Diamonds,"  took  to  heart  its  les- 
sons. "  Raise  what  the  people  about  you  need,"  it  said 
to  him.  He  went  into  the  small  fruit  business  and  is 
now  a  rich  man. 

The  man  who  invented  the  turnout  and  switch  sys- 
tem for  electric  cars  received  his  suggestion  from 
"  Acres  of  Diamonds." 

A  baker  heard  "  Acres  of  Diamonds,"  got  an  idea 
for  an  improved  oven  and  made  thousands  of  dollars 
from  it. 

A  teacher  in  Montrose,  Pennsylvania,  was  so  im- 
pressed with  the  practical  ideas  in  the  now  famous 
lecture  that  he  determined  to  teach  what  his  pupils  most 
needed  to  know.  Being  in  a  farming  district,  he  added 
agricultural  chemistry  to  their  studies  with  such  suc- 
cess that  the  next  year  he  was  elected  principal  of  one 
of  the  Montrose  schools  and  shortly  afterward  was  ap- 
pointed Superintendent  of  Education  and  President  of 
the  State  University  of  Ohio. 

But  incidents  by  the  hundreds  could  be  related  or 
practical,  helpful  results  that  flow  from  Dr.  Conwell's 
lectures. 

There  is  yet  another  side  of  their  helpfulness  that 
the  world  knows  little  about.  In  his  early  lecturing 
days,  he  resolved  to  give  his  lecture  fees  to  the  educa- 
tion of  poor  boys  and  faithfully- through  all  these  years 
has  that  resolve  been  kept.     The  Redpath  Lyceum  Bu- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  295 

reaii  has  paid  liim  nearly  $300,000,  and  more  than 
$200,000  of  this  has  gone  directly  to  help  those  poor 
in  purse  who  hunger  after  knowledge,  as  he  himself 
did  in  those  days  at  Wilbraham  when  help  would  have 
been  so  welcome.  The  balance  has  been  given  to  Tem- 
ple College,  which  in  itself  is  the  strongest  and  most 
helpful  hand  ever  stretched  out  to  those  struggling  for 
an  education. 

In  addition  to  his  lectures,  he  is  called  upon  to  make 
innumerable  addresses  at  various  meetings,  public  gath- 
erings and  conventions.  Those  who  have  never  heard 
him  speak  may  gather  some  idea  of  the  impression 
he  makes  by  the  following  letter  written  by  a  gentle- 
man who  attended  the  banquet  given  to  President  Mc- 
Kinley  at  the  G.  A.  R.  encampment  in  Philadelphia  in 
1899: 

"  At  the  table  with  the  President  was  Eussell  H. 
Conwell,  and  no  one  near  me  could  tell  me  who  he  was. 
We  mistook  him  for  the  new  Secretary  of  War,  until 
Secretary  Root  made  his  speech.  There  was  a  highly 
intelligent  and  remarkably  representative  audience  of 
the  nation  at  a  magnificent  banquet  in  the  hall  deco- 
rated regardless  of  cost, 

"  The  addresses  were  all  specially  good  and  made  by 
men  specially  before  the  nation.  Yet  all  the  evening 
till  after  midnight  there  w^ere  continuous  interruptions 
and  much  noise  of  voices,  dishes,  and  waiters.  Men 
at  distant  tables  laughed  out  often.  It  was  difficult  to 
hear  at  best,  the  acoustics  were  so  bad.  The  speakers 
took  it  as  a  matter  of  course  at  such  a  *  continuous  per- 
formance.' Some  of  the  Representatives  must  have 
thought  they  were  at  home  in  the  House  at  Washing- 
ton.    They  listened  or  not,  as  they  chose.     The  great 


296  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

hall  was  qnlet  only  when  the  President  gave  his  ad- 
dress, except  when  the  enclosed  remarks  were  made 
long  after  midnight,  when  all  were  worn  out  with 
speeches. 

"  When,  about  the  last  thing,  Conwell  was  intro- 
duced bv  the  chairman,  no  one  heard  his  name  because 
of  the  noise  at  the  tables.  Two  men  asked  me  who  he 
was.  But  not  two  minutes  after  he  began,  the  place 
was  still  and  men  craned  their  necks  to  catch  his  words. 
I  never  saw  anything  so  magical.  I  know  how  you 
would  have  enjoyed  it.  Its  effect  was  a  hot  surprise. 
The  revelers  all  worn ;  the  people  ready  to  go  home ;  the 
waiters  impatient ;  the  speech  wholly  extemporaneous. 
It  was  a  triumph  that  did  honor  to  American  oratory 
at  its  best.  The  applause  was  decisive  and  deafening. 
I  never  heard  of  anything  better  done  under  such  cir- 
cumstances. 

"  'None  of  the  morning  papers  we  could  -get  on  the 
train  mentioned  either  Conwell  or  his  great  speech. 
Perhaps  Conwell  asked  the  reporters  to  suppress  it.  T 
don't  know  as  to  that.  But  it  was  the  first  thing  we 
looked  for.  ISTot  a  word.  There  is  no  clue  to  account 
for  that.  Yet  that  is  the  peculiarity  of  this  singular 
life:  one  of  the  most  public,  one  of  the  most  successful 
men,  but  yet  one  of  the  least  discussed  or  written  about. 
He  was  to  us  as  visitors  the  great  feature  of  that  ban- 
quet as  a  speaker,  and  yet  wholly  ignored  by  the  press 
of  his  own  city.  The  United  States  Senator  Penrose 
seemed  only  to  know  in  a  general  way  that  Conwell  was 
a  great  benefactor  and  a  powerful  citizen  and  preacher. 
Conwell  is  a  study.  I  cogitated  on  him  all  day.  I 
was  told  that  he  marched  throughout  the  great  parade 
in  the  rear  rank  of  his  G.  A.  R.  post.     It  is  the  strangest 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  297 

case  of  a  private  life  I  have  ever  heard  mentioned. 
The  Quakers  will  wake  up  resurrection  day  and  find 
out  Conwell  lived  in  Philadelphia.  It  is  startling  to 
think  how  measureless  the  influence  of  such  a  man  is 
in  its. effect  on  the  world.  Through  forty  years  educat- 
ing men,  healing  the  sick,  caring  for  children,  then 
preaching  to  a  great  church,  then  lecturing  in  the  great 
cities  nearly  every  night,  then  writing  biographies ;  and 
also  an  accessible  counselor  to  such  masses  of  young 
people !  " 

The  address  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  letter  was 
taken  do^^^l  in  shorthand,  and  was  substantially  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  Comrades :  I  feel  at  this  moment  as  Alexander 
Stephens  said  he  felt  at  the  close  of  the  war  of  1865, 
and  it  can  well  be  illustrated  by  the  boasting  athlete 
who  declared  he  could  throw  out  twenty  men  from  a 
neighboring  saloon  in  five  minutes.  He  requested  his 
friend  to  stand  outside  and  count  as  he  went  in  and 
threw  them  out.  Soon  a  battered  man  was  thrown  out 
the  door  far  into  the  street.  The  ffiend  began  his  count 
and  shouted,  '  One !  '  But  the  man  in  the  street  stag- 
gered to  his  feet  and  angrily  screamed,  '  Stop  counting ! 
It's  me ! '  When  this  feast  opened  I  was  proudly  ex- 
pecting to  make  a  speech,  but  the  great  men  who  have 
preceded  me  have  done  all  and  more  than  I  intended  to 
do.  The  hour  is  spent  —  they  are  sounding  ^  taps  '  at 
the  door.  I  could  not  hope  to  hold  your  attention.  It 
only  remains  for  me  to  do  my  duty  in  behalf  of  Meade 
Post,  and  do  it  in  the  briefest  possible  space. 

"  Comrades  of  Boston  and  N'ew  York,  you  have  heard 
the  greetings  when  you  entered  the  city  — •  you  have 
seen  the  gorgeous  and  artistic  decorations  on  halls  and 


298  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

dwellings  —  you  have  heard  the  shouts  of  the  million 
and  more  who  pressed  into  the  streets,  waved  handker- 
chiefs from  the  stands,  and  looked  over  each  other's 
heads  from  all  the  windows  and  roofs  throughout  that 
weary  march.  Here  you  see  the  lovely  decorations, 
the  most  costly  feast,  and  listen  to  the  heart-thrilling, 
soul-subduing  orchestra.  All  of  these  have  already 
spoken  to  you  an  unmistakable  message  of  welcome. 
Knowing  this  city  as  I  do,  I  can  say  to  you  that  not  one 
cornet  or  viol,  not  one  hymn  or  shout,  not  one  wave  in 
all  the  clouds  which  fair  hands  rolled  up,  not  one  gun 
of  all  that  shook  the  city,  not  one  flush  of  red  on  a 
dear  face  of  beauty,  not  one  blessing  from  the  aged  on 
his  cane,  not  one  tear  on  the  eyelids  which  glowed  again 
as  your  march  brought  back  the  gleam  of  a  morning 
long  since  dead,  not  one  clasp  of  the  hand,  not  one  '  God 
bless  you ! '  from  saint  or  priest  in  all  this  fair  city, 
but  I  believe  has  been  deeply,  earnestly,  sincere. 

This  repast  is  not  the  result  of  pride  —  is  not  ar- 
ranged for  gluttony  or  fashion.  'No  political  scheme 
inspired  its  proposal,  and  no  ulterior  motive  moved 
these  companions  to  take  your  arm.  The  joy  that  seems 
to  beam  in  the  comrade's  eye  and  unconsciously  express 
itself  in  word  and  gesture,  is  real.  It  is  the  hearty 
love  of  a  comrade  who  showed  his  love  for  his  country 
by  battle  in  18G2,  and  who  only  finds  new  ways  in 
time  of  peace  for  expressing  the  same  character  now. 
The  eloquence  of  this  night  has  been  unusually,  earnest- 
ly, practically  patriotic  and  fraternal.  It  has  been  the 
utterance  of  hearts  beating  full  and  strong  for  human- 
ity. Loyalty,  fraternity,  and  charity  are  here  in  fact. 
It  is  true,  honest,  heart.  Such  fraternal  greetings  may 
be  as  important  for  liberty  and  justice  as  the  winning 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  299 

of  a  Gettysburg.  For  the  mighty  influence  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  is  even  more  potent  now 
than  it  was  on  that  bloody  day.  Peace  has  come  and 
the  brave  men  of  the  ^STorth  recognize  and  respect  the 
motives  and  bravery  of  that  Confederate  army  which 
dealt  them  such  fearful  blows  believing  they  were  in 
the  right. 

But  the  glorious  peace  we  enjoy  and  the  greatness 
of  our  nation's  name  and  power  are  due  as  much  to 
the  living  Grand  Army  as  to  the  dead.  I  am  getting 
weary  of  being  counted  '  old,'  but  I  am  more  tired  of 
hearing  the  soldier  overpraised  for  what  he  did  in 
1861.  You  have  more  influence  now  than  then,  and 
are  better  men  in  every  sense.  At  Springfield,  Illinois, 
they  illustrated  the  growth  of  the  city  by  telling  me 
that  in  1856  a  lunatic  preacher  applied  to  Mr.  Lincoln 
for  his  aid  to  open  the  legislative  chamber  for  a  series 
of  meetings  to  announce  that  the  Lord  was  coming  at 
once.  Mr.  Lincoln  refused,  saying,  '  If  the  Lord  knew 
Springfield  as  well  as  I  do,  he  wouldn't  come  within 
a  thousand  miles  of  it'  But  now^the  legislative  halls 
are  open,  and  every  good  finds  welcome  in  that  cilry. 
The  world  grows  better  —  cities  are  not  worse.  The 
nation  has  not  gone  baelrward,  and  all  the  good  deeds 
did  not  cease  in  1865.  The  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public, speaking  plainly  but  with  no  sense  of  egotism, 
has  been  praised  too  much  for  the  war  and  too  little 
for  its  heroism  and  power  in  peace.  Does  it  make  a 
man  an  angel  to  eat  hardtack  ?  Or  does  it  educate  in 
inductive  philosophy  to  chase  a  pig  through  a  Virginia 
fence  ?  Peace  has  its  victories  no  less  renowned  than 
war. 

The   Grand   Army   is   not   growing   old.      You    all 


300  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

feel  younger  at  this  moment  than  you  did  at  the  close 
of  the  day's  march.  Your  work  is  not  finished.  You 
were  not  fossilized  in  1865.  The  war  was  not  a  nurse, 
nor  was  it  a  very  thorough  schoolmaster.  It  did  serve, 
however,  to  show  to  friends  and  country  what  kind  of 
men  America  contained.  ITot  I  nor  you  perhaps  can 
take  this  pleasing  interpretation  to  ourselves,  hut  look- 
ing at  the  five  hundred  thousand  men  who  outlived  the 
war,  we  see  that  they  were  the  same  men  before  the 
war  and  have  remained  the  same  since  the  war.  Their 
ability,  friendship,  patriotism,  and  religion  were  better 
known  after  they  had  shown  their  faith  by  deeds,  but 
their  identity  and  character  were  in  great  measure  the 
same. 

Many  of  our  Presidents  have  been  taken  from  the 
ranks  of  the  army.  B'ut  it  would  be  a  mockery  of  politi- 
cal wisdom  to  declare  that  a  free,  intelligent  people  elect 
a  chief  executive  simply  to  reward  him  for  having  been 
in  the  war  of  1861.  Captain  Garfield,  Lieutenant 
Hayes,  Major  McKinley,  and  General  Grant  were  not 
put  at  the  head  of  the  nation  as  one  would  vote  a  pen- 
sion. They  were  elected  because  the  people  believed 
them  to  be  the  very  best  statesmen  they  could  select  for 
the  office.  For  a  time  every  foreign  consul  except  four 
was  a  soldier.  Two-thirds  of  Congress  had  been  in  the 
army.  Twenty-nine  governors  in  the  same  year  had 
been  in  military  service.  Nine  presidents  of  universi- 
ties had  been  volunteers  in  1863.  Three  thousand 
postmasters  appointed  in  one  year  were  from  the  army. 
Cabinet  officers,  custom-house  officers,  judges,  district 
attorneys,  and  clerks  in  public  offices  were  almost  ex- 
clusively selected  from  army  m'en.  Could  you  look  in 
the  face  of  the  nations  and  declare  that  with  all  our  en- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  301 

terprise,  learning,  progress,  and  common  sense,  we  had 
such  an  inadequate  idea  of  the  responsibilities  of  gov- 
ernment that  we  elected  men  to  office  who  were  incapa- 
ble, simply  because  they  had  carried  a  gun  or  tripped 
over  a  sword !  I^o,  no.  The  shrewd  Yankee  and  the 
calculating  Hoosier  are  not  caught  with  such  chaff. 
They  selected  these  officers  as  servants  of  the  nation  be- 
cause the  war  had  served  to  show  what  sort  of  men  they 
were. 

In  short,  they  appointed  them  to  high  positions  be- 
cause they  were  true  men.  They  are  just  as  true  men 
now.  They  are  as  patriotic,  as  industrious,  as  unself- 
ish, as  brave  to-day  as  they  were  in  the  dark  days  of  the 
rebellion.  Their  efforts  are  as  honest  now  as  they  were 
then,  to  perpetuate  free  institutions  and  maintain  the 
honor  of  the  flag. 

"  They  have  endowed  colleges,  built  cathedrals, 
opened  the  wilderness  to  railroads,  filled  the  American 
desert  with  roses,  constructed  telephone,  telegi-aph,  and 
steamship  lines.  They  have  stood  in  classroom  and  in 
the  pulpit  by  the  thousand ;  they  have  honored  our 
courts  with  their  legal  acumen ;  tliey  have  covered  the 
plains  with  cities,  and  compelled  the  homage  of  Europe 
to  secure  our  scholars,  our  wheat  and  our  iron.  The 
soldier  has  controlled  the  finances  of  banking  systems 
and  revolutionized  labor,  society,  and  arts  with  his  in- 
ventions. They  saw  poor  Cuba,  beautiful  as  her  surf 
and  femininely  sweet  as  her  luscious  fruits,  tortured 
in  chains.  They  saw  her  lovely  form  through  the  blood 
that  covered  her,  and  Dewey,  Sampson,  Schley,  Miles, 
Merritt,  Sigsbee,  Evans,  Philip,  Alger,  and  McKinley 
of  the  Grand  Army  led  the  forces  to  her  rescue.  The 
Philippines   in  the   darkness  of  half-savage   life  were 


302  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

brought  tinexpectedly  under  our  colors  because  Dewey 
and  his  commanders  were  in  1898  just  the  same  heroes 
they  were  in  1864. 

"  At  the  bidding  of  Meade  Post,  then,  I  welcome  you 
and  bid  you  farewell.  This  gathering  was  in  the  line 
of  duty.  Its  spectacle  has  impressed  the  young,  in- 
spired the  strong  man,  and  comforted  the  aged.  The 
fraternity  here  so  sincerely  expressed  to-night  will  en- 
courage us  all  to  enfold  the  old  flag  more  tenderly,  to 
love  our  country  more  deeply,  and  to  go  on  in  every  path 
of  duty,  showing  still  the  spirit  of  '61  wherever  good 
calls  for  sacrifice  or  truth  for  a  defender." 


CHAPTEE  XXXIV 

AS  A  WRITER 

His  Rapid  Method  of  Working.    A  Popular  Biographical  Writer. 
The  Books  He  Has  Written. 

TILL  the  minutes  are  not  full.  The  man  who 
learned  five  languages  while  going  to  and  from 
his  business  on  the  street  cars  of  Boston  finds 
time  always  to  crowd  in  one  thing  more.  Despite  his 
multitude  of  other  cares,  Dr.  Conwell's  pen  is  not  idle. 
It  started  to  write  in  his  boyhood  days  and  it  has  been 
writing  ever  since. 

His  best  known  works  are  his  biographies.  Charles 
A.  Dana,  the  famous  editor  and  publisher  of  the  ISTew 
York  "  Sun,"  just  before  his  death,  wrote  to  Harper 
Brothers  recommending  that  Mr.  Conwell  be  secured  to 
write  a  series  of  books  for  an  "  American  Biographical 
Library,"  and  in  his  letter  said: 

"  I  write  the  above  of  my  own  notion,  as  I  have  sel- 
dom met  Mr.  Conwell;  but  as  a  writer  of  biographies 
he  has  no-  superior.  Indeed,  I  can  say  considerately, 
that  he  is  one  of  America's  greatest  men.  He  never 
advertises  himself,  never  saves  a  newspaper  clipping 
concerning  himself,  never  keeps  a  sermon  of  his  own, 
and  will  not  seek  applause.  You  must  go  after  him  if 
you  want  him.  He  will  not  apply  to  you.  His  per- 
sonal history  is  as  fascinating  as  it  is  exceptional.     He 

took  himself  as  a  poor  back  country  lad,  created  out  of 

303 


304  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

the  crude  material  tlie  orator  which  often  comhines  a 
Webster  with  Gough,  and  made  himself  a  scholar  of 
the  first  rank.  He  created  from  nothing  a  powerful 
university  of  high  rank  in  Philadelphia,  especially  for 
the  common  people.  He  created  a  great  and  influential 
church  out  of  a  small  unknown  parish.  He  has  as- 
sisted more  men  in  securing  an  education  than  any  other 
•  American.  He  has  created  a  hospital  of  the  first  order 
and  extent.  He  has  fed  the  poor  and  housed  large 
numbers  of  orphans.  He  has  written  many  books  and 
has  addressed  more  people  than  any  other  living  man. 
To  do  this  without  writing  or  dictating  a  line  to  adver- 
tise himself  is  nothing  else  than  the  victory  of  a  great 
genius.  He  is  a  gem  worth  your  seeking,  valuable  any- 
where. I  say  again  that  I  regard  Russell  H.  Conwell, 
of  Philadelphia,  as  America's  greatest  man  in  the  best 
form.     I  cannot  do  your  work ;  he  can." 

His  most  successful  biography,  his  "  Life  of  Charles 
H.  Spurgeon,"  was  written  in  a  little  more  than  two 
weeks.  In  fact,  it  was  not  written  at  all,  it  was  dic- 
tated while  on  a  lecturing  trip.  When  Spurgeon  died, 
a  publisher  telegraphed  Dr.  Conwell  if  he  would  write 
a  biography  of  the  great  London  preaclier.  Dr.  Con- 
well  was  traveling  at  the  time  in  the  West,  lecturing. 
He  wired  an  aflirmative,  and  sent  for  his  private  secre- 
tary. It  was  during  the  building  of  the  College  when 
great  financial  responsibilities  were  resting  on  him,  and 
he  was  lecturing  every  night  to  raise  money  for  the 
college  building  fund.  His  secretary  accompanied  him 
on  the  lecture  trip.  Dr.  Conwell  dictated  the  book  on 
the  train  during  the  day,  the  secretary  copied  it  from 
his  notes  at  night  while  Dr.  Conwell  lectured.  At  the 
end  of  two  weeks  the  book  of  six  hundred  pages  was 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  305 

nearly  completed.  It  had  a  sale  of  125,000  copies  in 
four  months.  And  all  the  royalties  were  given  to  a 
struggling  mission  of  Grace  Baptist  Church. 

His  biography  of  Blaine  was  written  almost  as  rapid- 
ly. In  a  few  hours  after  Blaine  was  nominated  as  can- 
didate of  the  Republican  party  for  the  presidency,  Dr. 
and  Mrs,  Conwell  boarded  a  train  and  started  for  Au- 
gusta, Maine.     In  three  weeks  the  book  was  completed. 

He  has  worked  at  times  from  four  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing until  twelve  at  night  when  work  pressed  and  time 
was  short. 

His  life  of  Bayard  Taylor  was  also  written  quickly. 
He  had  traveled  with  Taylor  through  Europe  and  long 
been  an  intimate  friend,  so  that  he  was  particularly  well 
fitted  for  the  work.  The  book  was  begun  after  Taylor's 
death,  December  19,  1878,  in  Grermany,  and  completed 
before  the  body  arrived  in  America.  Five  thousand 
copies  were  sold  before  the  funeral. 

Dr.  Conwell  presided  at  the  memorial  service  held 
in  Tremont  Temple,  Boston.  Many  years  after,  in  a 
sermon  preached  at  The  Temple,  he  thus  described  the 
occasion : 

"  When  Bayard  Taylor,  the  traveler  and  poet,  died, 
great  sorrow  was  felt  and  exhibited  by  the  people  of 
this  nation.  I  remember  well  the  sadness  which  was 
noticed  in  the  city  of  Boston.  The  spontaneous  desire 
io  give  some  expression  to  the  respect  in  which  Mr. 
Taylor's  name  was  held,  pressed  the  literary  people 
of  Boston,  both  writers  and  readers,  forward  to  a  public 
memorial  in  the  great  hall  of  Tremont  Temple.  As  a 
friend  of  Mr.  Taylor's  I  was  called  upon  to  preside  at 
that  memorial  gathering.  That  audience  of  the  scholar- 
ly classes  was  a  wonderful  tribute  to  a  remarkable  man, 

20 


306  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

and  one  for  which  I  feel  still  a  keen  sense  of  gratitude. 
I  remember  asking  Mr.  Longfellow  to  write  a  poem,  and 
to  read  it,  and  standing  on  the  broad  step  at  his  front 
door,  in  Cambridge,  he  replied  to  my  suggestion  with 
the  sweet  expression :  *  The  universal  sorrow  is  almost 
too  sacred  to  touch  with  a  pen.' 

"  But  when  the  evening  came,  although  Professor 
Longfellow  was  too  ill  to  be  present,  his  poem  was  there. 
The  great  hall  was  crowded  with  the  most  cultivated 
people  of  Boston.  On  the  platform  sat  many  of  the 
poets,  orators  and  philosophers,  who  have  since  passed 
into  the  Bevond.  When,  after  several  speeches  had 
been  made,  I  arose  to  introduce  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes,  the  pressure  of  the  crowd  was  too  great  for  me 
to  reach  mj  chair  again,  and  I  took  for  a  time  the  seat 
which  Dr.  Holmes  had  just  left,  and  next  to  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson.  I^ever  were  words  of  poet  listened  to 
with  a  silence  more  respectfully  profound  than  were 
the  words  of  Professor  Longfellow's  poem  as  they  were 
so  touchingly  and  beautifully  read  by  Dr.  Holmes: 

" '  Dead  he  lay  among  his  books. 
The  peace  of  God  was  in  his  looks! 


Let  the  lifeless  body  rest, 
He   is  gone  who  was  its  guest. — 
Gone  as  travelers  haste  to  leave 
An  inn,  nor  tarry  until  eve! 
Traveler,  in  what  realms  afar. 
In  what  planet,  in  what  star. 
In  what  vast,  aerial  space, 
Shines  the  light  upon  tliy  face? 
In  what  gardens  of  delight 
Rest  thy  weary  feet  to-night-* 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  307 

Before  Dr.  Holmes  resumed  his  seat,  Mr.  Emerson 
whispered  in  my  ear,  in  his  epigrammatic  style,  '  This 
is  holy  Sabbath  time.'  " 

Among  the  books  which  Dr.  Conwell  has  written  are : 

"  Lessons  of  Travel." 

"  Why  and  How  Chinese  Emigrate." 

"  !N"ature's  Aristocracy." 

"  History  of  the  Great  Fire  in  Boston." 

"  The  Life  of  Gen.  H.  S.  Grant." 

"  Woman  and  the  Law." 

"  The  Life  of  Rutherford  B.  Hayes." 

"  History  of  the  Great  Fire  in  St.  Johns." 

"  The  Life  of  Bayard  Taylor." 

"  The  Life,  Speeches,  and  Public  Service  of  James 
A.  Garfield." 

"  Little  Bo." 

"  Joshua  Gianavello." 

"  The  Life  of  James  G.  Blaine." 

"  Acres  of  Diamonds." 

"  Gleams  of  Grace." 

"  The  Life  of  Charles  H.  Spurgepn." 

"  The  K'ew  Day." 

The  manuscript  which  he  prepared  most  carefully 
was  the  "  Life  of  Daniel  Manin,"  which  was  destroyed 
by  fire  Avhen  his  home  at  Newton  Centre  was  burned. 
He  had  sjDent  much  time  and  labor  collecting  data  on 
Italian  history  for  it,  and  the  loss  was  irreparable. 

"  Joshua  Gianavello  "  is  a  biographical  story  of  the 
great  Waldensian  chieftain  who  loved  religious  liberty 
and  feared  neither  inquisition  nor  death.  It  is  dedi- 
cated to  "  the  many  believers  in  the  divine  principle 
that  every  person  should  have  the  right  to  worship  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience;  and  to 


308  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

the  heroic  warriors  who  are  still  contending  for  religious 
freedom  in  the  yet  unfinished  battle." 

The  same  powerful  imagination  that  pictures  so  real- 
istically to  his  lecture  and  church  audiences  the  scenes 
and  people  he  is  describing,  makes  them  live  in  his 
books.  His  style  holds  the  reader  by  its  vividness  of 
description,  its  powerful  delineation  of  character  and 
emotion. 

His  latest  book,  "  The  ISTew  Day,"  is  an  amplifica- 
tion of  his  great  lecture,  "  Acres  of  Diamonds."  It  is 
not  only  delightful  reading  but  it  is  full  of  practical 
help  for  the  affairs  of  everyday  life.  For  no  matter 
in  what  field  Dr.  Conwell  works,  this  great  desire  of 
his  life  —  to  help  his  brother  man  —  shines  out. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

A  HOME  COMING 

Reception  Tendered  by  Citizens  of  Philadelphia  in  Acknowledg- 
ment of  Work  as  Public  Benefactor. 

ONE  more  scene  in  the  life  of  this  man  who,  from 
a  barefoot  country  boy  with  no  advantages,  has 
become  one  of  the  most  widely  known  of  the 
preachers,  lecturers  and  writers  of  the  day,  as  well  as 
the  founder  of  a  college  and  hospital  holding  an  honored 
position  among  the  institutions  of  the  country. 

In  1894,  acting  upon  the  advice  of  his  physician. 
Dr.  Conwell  went  abroad.  It  is  no  unusual  thing  for 
pastors  to  go  abroad,  nor  for  members  of  their  church 
and  friends  to  see  them  off.  But  for  Grace  Baptist 
Church  personally  to  wish  its  pastor  "  Bon  voyage  "  is 
something  of  an  undertaking.  '  A  special  train  was 
chartered  to  take  the  members  to  Kew  York.  Here 
a  steamer  engaged  for  the  purpose  awaited  them,  and 
twelve  hundred  strong,  they  steamed  down  the  har- 
bor alongside  the  "  ITew  York  "  that  Dr.  Conwell's  last 
glimpse  of  America  might  be  of  the  faces  of  his  own 
church  family. 

On  his  return  six  hundred  church  members  met  him 

and  gave  him  a  royal  welcome,  and  a  large  reception 

was  held  in  The  Temple  to  show  how  glad  were  the 

hearts  of  his  people  that  he  was  restored  to  them  in 

health. 

309 


310  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

But  it  was  not  enougli.  Tlie  people  of  Pliiladelplila 
said,  "  This  man  belongs  to  us."  In  all  parts  of  the 
city,  in  all  walks  of  life,  were  men  and  women  who  had 
studied  at  Temple  College,  whose  lives  were  happier, 
more  useful  because  of  the  knowledge  they  had  gained 
there,  for  whom  he  had  opened  these  college  doors.  The 
Samaritan  Hospital  had  sent  forth  people  by  the  hun- 
dreds whose  bodies  had  been  healed  and  their  spirits 
quickened  because  his  kindly  heart  had  foreseen  their 
need  and  his  generous  hands  labored  to  help  it.  Every- 
where throughout  the  whole  city  was  felt  the  leaven 
of  his  work,  and  the  people  as  a  body  said,  "  We  will 
show  our  appreciation  of  the  work  he  has  done  for 
Philadelphia,  we  will  show  that  we  recognize  him  as 
one  of  the  city's  greatest  benefactors  and  philanthro- 
pists." 

A  committee  of  twenty-one  citizens  was  formed,  of 
which  the  Mayor,  Edwin  S.  Stuart,  was  chairman,  and 
a  reception  was  tendered  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Conwell  and  the 
others  of  his  party  in  the  name  of  the  citizens  of  Phila- 
delphia. It  was  given  at  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts. 
With  its  paintings  and  statuary,  its  broad  sweeping 
staircases,  it  made  a  magnificent  setting  for  the  throngs 
of  men  and  women  who  crowded  to  pay  their  respects 
to  this  man  who  had  lived  among  them,  doing  good. 

The  line  of  waiting  gnests  reached  for  two  blocks  and 
more  and  for  hours  moved  in  steady  procession  before 
the  receiving  party.  At  last  the  final  farewell  was  said 
and  on  toward  midnight  Dr.  Conwell  stepped  into  the 
carriage  waiting  to  take  him  home. 

But  the  affair  was  not  over.  The  college  boys  felt 
that  shaking  hands  in  formal  fashion  did  not  express 
sufficiently  their  loyalty  and  devotion,  their  joy  in  the 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  311 

return  of  their  beloved  "  Prex."  They  unharnessed 
the  horses,  and  with  college  cheers  and  yells  triumphant- 
ly drew  their  president  all  the  way  from  the  Academy 
of  Fine  Arts  to  his  home,  a  distance  of  two  miles.  As 
they  passed  Temple  College,  their  enthusiasm  broke  all 
bounds  and  they  drew  up  the  carriage  at  the  Doctor's 
residence,  two  blocks  beyond  the  College,  with  a  yell 
and  a  flourish  that  fairly  lifted  the  neighbors  from  their 
beds. 

It  was  in  every  way  a  homecoming  and  a  welcome 
that  proved  how  wide-reaching  has  been  the  work  Dr. 
Conwell  has  done,  how  deeply  it  has  touched  the  lives 
of  thousands  of  people  in  Philadelphia.  This  spontane- 
ous act  of  appreciation  was  but  the  tribute  paid  by 
grateful  hearts. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

THE  PATH  THAT  HAS  BEEN  BLAZED 

Problems  that  Need  Solving.     The  Need   of  Men  Able  to  Solve 
Them. 

"  O  do  not  pray  for  easy  lives 
Pray  to  be  stronger  men.     Do  not  pray  for 

Tasks  equal  to  your  powers.     Pray 
For  powers  equal  to  your  tasks. 

Then   the   doing  of  your   work   shall   bo 
No  miracle.     But  you  shall  be  a  miracle, 

Every  day  you  shall  wonder  at  yourself, 
At  the  richness  of  life  that  has  come  to  you 

By  the  Grace  of  God." 

wrote  that  great  preacher,  Phillips  Brooks.  " 

The  world  does  not  want  easy  lives  but  strong  men. 

Every  age  has  its  problems.    Every  age  needs  men  with 

clear  moral  vision,  strong  hands,  humane  hearts  to  solve 

these  problems.     Character,  not  the  fortune  of  birth, 

qualifies   for  leadership   in   such   a  work.     And   such 

work  ever  waits,  the  world  over,  to  be  done.     In  every 

large  city  of  the  country  are  thousands  crying  for  better 

education,  the  suffering  poor  are  holding  up  weak  hands 

for  help,  men  and  wom.en  morally  blind,  are  asking  for 

hVht  to  find  Christ  —  the  Christ  of  the  Bible,  not  the 

Christ  of  dogma  and  creed,  religion  pure  and  undefiled, 

the  church  in  the  simplicity  of  the  days  of  the  apostles, 

the  church  that  reaches  out  a  helping  hand  to  all  the 

needs  of  humanity. 

312 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  313 

Institutional  churches  are  needed,  not  one,  but  many 
of  them,  in  the  cities,  churches  that  help  men  to  grapple 
with  the  stern  actualities  of  everyday  life,  churches  that 
preach  by  works  as  well  as  by  word,  churches  in  which 
the  man  in  fustian  is  as  welcome  as  the  one  in  broad- 
cloth, churches  whose  influence  reaches  into  the  high- 
ways and  byways  and  compels  people  to  come  in  by  the 
very  cordiality  and  kindness  of  the  invitation,  churches 
that  help  people  to  live  better  and  more  happily  in  this 
world,  while  at  the  same  time  preparing  them  for  the 
world  to  come, 

"  In  no  other  city  in  the  country  is  there  such  an 
example  of  the  quickening  force  of  a  united  and  work- 
ing church  organization  as  is  given  by  the  ISTorth  Broad 
Street  Temple,  Philadelphia,"  says  an  editorial  writer 
in  the  Philadelphia  "  Press."  "  Twenty  such  churches 
in  this  city  of  1,250,000  people  would  do  more  to  evan- 
gelize it  and  re-awaken  an  interest  in  the  vital  truths 
of  Christianity  than  the  hundreds  of  church  organiza- 
tions it  now  has.  The  world  is  demanding  more  and 
better  returns  from  the  church  for  the  time  and  money 
given  it.  Real,  practical  Christian  work  is  what  is 
asked  of  the  church.  The  sooner  it  conforms  to  this 
demand,  the  more  quickly  it  will  regain  its  old  influ- 
ence and  bo  prepared  to  make  effective  its  fight  against 
evil." 

Hospitals  are  needed  that  heal  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
that  heal  ills  of  the  body  and  at  the  same  time  by  the 
spirit  of  love  that  permeates,  by  the  Christian  spirit 
that  animates  all  connected  with  them,  cure  the  ills  of 
the  soul  and  send  the  sufferers  away  rejoicing  in  spirit 
as  well  as  in  body,  with  a  brighter  outlook  on  the  world 
and  increased  faith  in  humankind. 


314  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

Colleges  are  needed  the  length  and  breadth  of  this 
land,  wherever  the  poor  and  ignorant  sit  in  darkness. 
In  every  town  of  five  thousand  or  more,  a  college  for 
working  people  on  the  lines  of  the  Temple  College 
would  be  thronged  with  eager,  rejoicing  students.  And 
the  world  is  the  better  for  every  man  and  woman  raised 
to  a  higher  plane  of  living.  Any  life,  no  matter  how 
sordid  and  narrow,  how  steeped  in  ignorance,  if  swept 
sweet  and  clean  by  God's  love,  if  awakened  by  ambition 
and  then  given  the  opportunity  to  grow,  can  be  changed 
into  beauty,  sweetness  and  usefulness.  And  such  work 
is  worth  while. 

The  way  has  been  blazed,  the  path  has  been  pointed 
out,  it  only  remains  for  those  who  follow  after  to  walk 
therein.  And  if  they  walk  therein,  they  will  gain  that 
true  greatness  and  deep  happiness  which  Phillips 
Brooks  says  comes  ever  "  to  the  man  who  has  given  his 
life  to  his  race,  who  feels  that  what  God  gives. him,  He 
gives  him  for  mankind." 


ACRES  OF  DIAMONDS 

Dr.  Conwell's  most  famous  lecture  and  one  of 
his  earliest  has  been  given  at  this  writing  (Oc- 
tober, 1905)  3420  times.  The  income  from  it  if 
invested  at  regular  rates  of  interest  would  have 
amounted  very  nearly  to  one  million  dollars. 


PERSONAL 

GLIMPSES  OF  CELEBRATED 

MEN  AND  WOMEN 

Is  Dr.  Conwell's  latest  lecture.  It  is  a  back- 
ward glance  over  his  own  life  in  which  he  tells 
in  his  inimitable  fashion  many  of  its  most  in- 
teresting scenes  and  incidents.  It  is  here  pub- 
lished for  the  first  time. 


ACRES  OF  DIAMONDS.* 

LT  am  astonished  that  so  many  people  should  care  to  hear 
I  this  story  over  again.  Indeed,  this  lecture  has  be- 
-*~  come  a  study  in  psychology ;  it  often  breaks  all  rules 
of  oratory,  departs  from  the  precepts  of  rhetoric,  and  yet 
remains  the  most  popular  of  any  lecture  I  have  delivered 
in  the  forty-four  years  of  my  public  life^  I  have  some- 
times studied  for  a  year  upon  a  lecture  and  made  careful 
research,  and  then  presented  the  lecture  just  once  —  never 
delivered  it  again.  I  put  too  much  work  on  it.  But  this 
had  no  work  on  it  —  thrown  together  perfectly  at  random, 
spoken  offhand  without  any  special  preparation,  and  it 
succeeds  when  the  thing  we  study,  work  over,  adjust  to  a 
plan  is  an  entire  failure. 

The  "  Acres  of  Diamonds "  which  I  have  mentioned 
through  so  many  years  are  to  be  found  in  Philadelphia, 
and  you  are  to  find  them.  Many  have  found  them.  And 
what  man  has  done,  man  can  do.  I  could  not  find  any- 
thing better  to  illustrate  my  thought  than  a  story  I  have 
told  over  and  over  again,  and  which  is  now  found  in  books 
in  nearly  every  library. 

In  1870  we  went  down  the  Tigris  River.  We  hired  a 
guide  at  Bagdad  to  show  us  Persepolis,  Nineveh  and 
l?abylon,  and  the  ancient  countries  of  Assyria  as  far  as 
tlie  Arabian  Gulf.  He  was  well  acquainted  with  the  land, 
but  he  was  one  of  those  guides  wh  >  love  to  entertain  their 
patrons;  he  was  like  a  barber  that  tells  you  many  stories  in 
order  to  keep  your  mind  off  the  scratching  and  the  scraping. 
He  told  me  so  many  stories  that  I  grew  tired  of  his  telling 
them  and  I  refused  to  listen  —  looked  away  whenever  he 
commenced ;  that  made  the  guide  quite  angry.     I  remember 

*  Reported  bv  A.  Russell  Smith  and  Harry  E.  Greater. 
[Mr.    Conwell's    lectures    are    all    delivered    extemporaneously    and    differ 
greatly  from  night  to  night. —  Ed.] 

317 


318  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

that  toward  evening  he  took  his  Turkish  cap  off  his  head 
and  swung  it  around  in  the  air.  The  gesture  I  did  not 
understand  and  I  did  not  dare  look  at  him  for  fear  I 
should  become  the  victim  of  another  story.  But,  although 
I  am  not  a  woman,  I  did  look,  and  the  instant  I  turned 
my  eyes  upon  that  worthy  guide  he  was  off  again.  Said  he, 
"  I  will  tell  you  a  story  now  which  I  reserve  for  my  par- 
ticular friends !  "  So  then,  counting  myself  a  particular 
friend,  I  listened,  and  I  have  always  been  glad  I  did. 

He  said  there  once  lived  not  far  from  the  Eiver  Indus  an 
ancient  Persian  by  the  name  of  Al  Hafed.  He  said  that 
Al  Hafed  owned  a  very  large  farm  with  orchards,  grain 
fields  and  gardens.  He  was  a  contented  and  wealthy  man 
—  contented  because  he  was  wealthy,  and  wealthy  because 
he  was  contented.  One  day  there  visited  this  old  fanner 
one  of  those  ancient  Buddhist  priests,  and  he  sat  down  by 
Al  Hafed's  fire  and  told  that  old  farmer  how  this  world 
of  ours  was  made.  He  said  that  this  world  was  once  a 
mere  bank  of  fog,  which  is  scientifically  true,  and  he  said 
that  the  Almighty  thrust  his  finger  into  the  bank  of  fog 
and  then  began  slowly  to  move  his  finger  around  and 
gradually  to  increase  the  speed  of  his  finger  until  at  last 
he  whirled  that  bank  of  fog  into  a  solid  ball  of  fire,  and 
it  went  rolling  through  the  universe,  burning  its  way 
through  other  cosmic  banks  of  fog,  until  it  condensed  the 
moisture  without,  and  fell  in  floods  of  rain  upon  the 
heated  surface  and  cooled  the  outward  crust.  Then  the 
internal  flames  burst  through  the  cooling  crust  and  threw 
up  the  mountains  and  made  the  hills  of  the  valley  of  this 
wonderful  world  of  ours.  If  this  internal  melted  mass 
burst  out  and  cooled  very  quickly  it  became  granite;  that 
which  cooled  less  quickly  became  silver;  and  less  quickly, 
gold;  and  after  gold  diamonds  were  made.  Said  the  old 
priest,  "  A  diamond  is  a  congealed  drop  of  sunlight." 

This  is  a  scientific  truth  also.  You  all  know  that  a  dia- 
mond is  pure  carbon,  actually  deposited  sunlight  —  and  he 
said  another  thing  I  would  not  forget:  he  declared  that  a 
diamond  is  the  last  and  highest  of  God's  mineral  creations, 
as  a  woman  is  the  last  and  highest  of  God's  animal  crea- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  319 

tions.  I  suppose  that  is  the  reason  why  the  two  have  such  a 
liking  for  each  other.  And  the  old  priest  told  Al  Hafed 
that  if  he  had  a  handful  of  diamonds  he  could  purchase  a 
whole  county,  and  with  a  mine  of  diamonds  he  could  place 
his  children  upon  thrones  through  the  influence  of  their 
great  wealth.  Al  Hafed  heard  all  about  diamonds  and  how 
much  they  were  worth,  and  went  to  his  bed  that  night  a 
poor  man  —  not  that  he  had  lost  anything,  but  poor  because 
he  was  discontented  and  discontented  because  he  thought 
he  was  poor.  He  said :  "  I  want  a  mine  of  diamonds !  " 
So  he  lay  awake  all  night,  and  early  in  the  morning  sought 
out  the  priest.  Now  I  know  from  experience  that  a  priest 
when  awakened  early  in  the  morning  is  cross.  He  awoke 
that  priest  out  of  his  dreams  and  said  to  him,  "  Will  you 
tell  m6  where  I  can  find  diamonds  ? "  The  priest  said, 
"  Diamonds  ?  What  do  you  want  with  diamonds  ?  "  "  I 
want  to  be  immensely  rich,"  said  Al  Hafed,  "  but  I  don't 
know  where  to  go."  "  Well,"  said  the  priest,  "  if  you  will 
find  a  river  that  runs  over  white  sand  between  high  moun- 
tains, in  those  sands  you  will  always  see  diamonds."  "  Do 
you  really  believe  that  there  is  such  a  river  ?  "  "  Plenty 
of  them,  plenty  of  them;  all  you  have  to  do  is  just  go 
and  find  them,  then  you  have  them."  Al  Hafed  said,  "  I 
will  go."  So  he  sold  his  farm,  collected  his  money  at  in- 
terest, left  his  family  in  charge  of  a  neighbor,  and  away  he 
went  in  search  of  diamonds.  He'  began  very  properly,  to 
my  mind,  at  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon.  Afterwards  he 
went  around  into  Palestine,  then  wandered  on  into  Europe, 
and  at  last  when  his  money  was  all  spent,  and  he  was  in 
rags,  wretchedness  and  poverty,  he  stood  on  the  shore  of 
that  bay  in  Barcelona,  Spain,  when  a  tidal  wave  came  roll- 
ing in  through  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  and  the  poor  af- 
flicted, suffering  man  could  not  resist  the  awful  tempta- 
tion to  cast  himself  into  that  incoming  tide,  and  he  sank 
beneath  its  foaming  crest,  never  to  rise  in  this  life  again. 
When  that  old  guide  had  told  me  that  very  sad  story,  he 
stopped  the  camel  I  was  riding  and  went  back  to  fix  the 
baggage  on  one  of  the  other  camels,  and  I  remem])er  think- 
ing to  myself,  "  Why  did  he  reserve  that  for  his  particular 


320  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

friends  V  There  seemed  to  be  no  beginning,  middle  or 
end  —  nothing  to  it.  That  was  the  first  story  I  ever  heard 
told  or  read  in  which  the  hero  Avas  killed  in  the  first 
chapter.  I  had  but  one  chapter  of  that  story  and  the  hero 
was  dead.  When  the  guide  came  back  and  took  up  the 
halter  of  my  camel  again,  he  went  right  on  with  the  same 
story.  He  said  that  Al  Hafed's  successor  led  his  camel 
out  into  the  garden  to  drink,  and  as  that  camel  put  its 
nose  down  into  the  clear  water  of  the  garden  brook  Al 
Hafed's  successor  noticed  a  curious  flash  of  light  from  the 
sands  of  the  shallow  stream,  and  reaching  in  he  pulled  out 
a  black  stone  having  an  eye  of  light  that  reflected  all  the 
colors  of  the  rainbow,  and  he  took  that  curious  pebble  into 
the  house  and  left  it  on  the  mantel,  then  went  on  his  way 
and  forgot  all  about  it.  A  few  days  after  that,  this  same 
old  priest  who  told  Al  Hafed  how  diamonds  were  made, 
came  in  to  visit  his  successor,  when  he  saw  that  flash  of 
light  from  the  mantel.  He  rushed  up  and  said,  "  Here  is 
a  diamond  —  here  is  a  diamond !  Has  Al  Hafed  re- 
turned ?  "  "  No,  no ;  Al  Hafed  has  not  returned  and  that 
is  not  a  diamond;  that  is  nothing  but  a  stone;  we  found  it 
right  out  here  in  our  garden."  "  But  I  know  a"  diamond 
when  I  see  it,"  said  he ;  "  that  is  a  diamond  !  " 

Then  together  they  rushed  to  the  garden  and  stirred  up 
the  white  sands  with  their  fingers  and  found  others  more 
beautiful,  more  valuable  diamonds  than  the  first,  and  thus, 
said  the  guide  to  me,  were  discovered  the  diamond  mines 
of  Golconda,  the  most  magnificent  diamond  mines  in  all 
the  history  of  mankind,  exceeding  the  Kimberley  in  its 
value.  The  great  Kohinoor  diamond  in  England's  crown 
jewels  and  the  largest  crown  diamond  on  earth  in  Eussia's 
crown  jewels,  which  I  had  often  hoped  she  would  have  to 
sell  before  they  had  peace  with  Japan,  came  from  that 
mine,  and  when  the  old  guide  had  called  my  attention  to 
that  wonderful  discovery  he  took  his  Turkish  cap  off  his 
head  again  and  swung  it  around  in  the  air  to  call  my  at- 
tention to  the  moral.  Those  Arab  guides  have  a  moral  to 
each  story,  though  the  stories  are  not  always  moral.  He 
said  had  Al  Hafed  remained  at  home  and  dug  in  his  own 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  321 

cellar  or  in  his  own  garden,  instead  of  wretchedness,  star- 
vation, poverty  and  death  in  a  strange  land,  he  would  have 
had  "  acres  of  diamonds " —  for  every  acre,  yes,  every 
shovelful  of  that  old  farm  afterwards  revealed  the  gems 
which  since  have  decorated  the  crowns  of  monarchs.  When 
he  had  given  the  moral  to  his  story,  I  saw  why  he  had  re- 
served this  story  for  his  "  particular  friends."  1  didn't  tell 
him  I  could  see  it ;  I  was  not  going  to  tell  that  old  Arab  that 
I  could  see  it.  For  it  was  that  mean  old  Arab's  way  of 
going  around  a  thing,  like  a  lawyer,  and  saying  indirectly 
what  he  did  not  dare  say  directly,  that  there  was  a  certain 
young  man  that  day  traveling  down  the  Tigris  Eiver  that 
might  better  be  at  home  in  America.  I  didn't  tell  him  I 
could  see  it. 

I  told  him  his  story  reminded  me  of  one,  and  I  told  it 
to  him  quick.  I  told  him  about  that  man  out  in  Califor- 
nia, who,  in  1847,  owned  a  ranch  out  there.  He  read  that 
gold  had  been  discovered  in  Southern  California,  and  he 
sold  his  ranch  to  Colonel  Sutter  and  started  off  to  hunt 
for  gold.  Colonel  Sutter  put  a  mill  on  the  little  stream 
in  that  farm  and  one  day  his  little  girl  brought  some  wet 
sand  from  the  raceway  of  the  mill  into  the  house  and 
placed  it  before  the  fire  to  dry,  and  as  that  sand  was  falling 
through  the  little  girl's  fingers  a  visitor  saw  the  first 
shining  scales  of  real  gold  that  were  ever  discovered  in 
California;  and  the  man  who  wanted  the  gold  had  sold 
this  ranch  and  gone  away,  never  to  return,  I  delivered 
this  lecture  two  years  ago  in  California,  in  the  city  that 
stands  near  that  farm,  and  they  told  me  that  the  mine 
is  not  exhausted  yet,  and  that  a  one-third  owner  of  that 
farm  has  been  getting  during  these  recent  years  twenty 
dollars  of  gold  every  fifteen  minutes  of  his  life,  sleeping 
or  waking.  Wliy,  you  and  I  would  enjoy  an  income  like 
that! 

But  the  best  illustration  that  I  have  now  of  this  thought 
was  found  here  in  Pennsylvania.  There  was  a  man  living 
in  Pennsylvania  who  owned  a  farm  here  and  he  did  what 
I  should  do  if  I  had  a  farm  in  Pennsylvania  —  he  sold  it. 
But  before  he  sold  it  he  concluded  to  secure  employment 


322  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

collecting  coal  oil  for  his  cousin  in  Canada,  Thoy  first 
discovered  coal  oil  there.  So  this  farmer  in  Pennsylvania 
decided  that  he  would  apply  for  a  position  with  his  cousin 
in  Canada.  Now,  you  see,  this  farmer  was  not  altogether 
a  foolish  man.  He  did  not  leave  his  farm  until  he  had 
something  else  to  do.  Of  all  the  simpletons  the  stars  shine 
on  there  is  none  more  foolish  than  a  man  who  leaves  one 
job  before  he  has  obtained  another.  And  that  has  especial 
reference  to  gentlemen  of  my  profession,  and  has  no  refer- 
ence to  a  man  seeking  a  divorce.  So  I  say  this  old  farmer 
did  not  leave  one  job  until  he  had  obtained  another.  He 
wrote  to  Canada,  but  his  cousin  replied  that  he  could  not 
engage  him  because  he  did  not  know  anything  about  the 
oil  business.  "  Well,  then,"  said  he,  "  I  will  understand 
it."  So  he  set  himself  at  the  study  of  the  whole  subject. 
He  began  at  the  second  day  of  the  creation,  he  studied 
the  subject  from  the  primitive  vegetation  to  the  coal  oil 
stage,  until  he  knew  all  about  it.  Then  he  wrote  to  his 
cousin  and  said,  "  Now  I  understand  the  oil  business." 
And  his  cousin  replied  to  him,  "  All  right,  then,  come  on." 
That  man,  by  the  record  of  the  county,  sold  his  farm 
for  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  —  even  money, 
"  no  cents."  He  had  scarcely  gone  from  that  farm  before 
the  man  who  purchased  it  went  out  to  arrange  for  the 
watering  the  cattle  and  he  found  that  the  previous  owner 
had  arranged  the  matter  very  nicely.  There  is  a  stream 
running  down  the  hillside  there,  and  the  previous  owner 
had  gone  out  and  put  a  plank  across  that  stream  at  an 
angle,  extending  across  the  brook  and  down  edgewise  a  few 
inches  under  the  surface  of  the  Avater.  The  purpose  of  the 
plank  across  that  brook  was  to  throw  over  to  the  other  bank 
a  dreadful-looking  scum  through  which  the  cattle  would  not 
put  their  noses  to  drink  above  the  plank,  although  they 
would  dxirilc  the  water  on  one  side  below  it.  Thus  that 
man  who  had  gone  to  Canada  had  been  himself  damming 
back  for  twenty-three  years  a  flow  of  coal  oil  which  the 
State  Geologist  of  Pennsyh  ania  declared  officially,  as  early 
as  1870,  was  then  worth  to  our  State  a  hundred  millions  of 
dollars.     The  city  of  Titusville  now  stands  on  that  farm 


THE  MAN  AUD  THE  WORK  323 

and  those  Pleasantville  wells  flow  on,  and  that  farmer 
who  had  studied  all  about  the  formation  of  oil  since  the 
second  day  of  God's  creation  clear  down  to  the  present 
time,  sold  that  farm  for  $833,  no  cents  —  again  I  say,  "  no 
sense." 

But  I  need  another  illustration,  and  I  found  that  in 
Massachusetts,  and  I  am  sorry  I  did,  because  that  is  my 
old  State.  This  young  man  I  mention  went  out  of  the  .State 
to  study  —  went  down  to  Yale  College  and  studied  Mines 
and  Mining.  They  paid  him  fifteen  dollars  a  week  during 
his  last  year  for  training  students  who  were  behind  their 
classes  in  mineralogy,  out  of  hours,  of  course,  while  pur- 
suing his  own  studies.  But  when  he  graduated  they  raised 
his  pay  from  fifteen  dollars  to  forty-five  dollars  and  of- 
fered him  a  professorship.  Then  he  went  straight  home 
to  his  mother  and  said,  "  Mother,  I  won't  work  for  forty- 
five  dollars  a  week.  What  is  forty-five  dollars  a  week  for 
a  man  with  a  brain  like  mine !  Mother,  let's  go  out  to 
California  and  stake  out  gold  claims  and  be  immensely 
rich.  "  Now,"  said  his  mother,  "  it  is  just  as  well  to  be 
happy  as  it  is  to  be  rich." 

But  as  he  was  the  only  son  he  had  his  way  —  they  al- 
ways do;  and  they  sold  out  in  Massachusetts  and  went  to 
Wisconsin,  where  he  went  into  the  employ  of  the  Superior 
Copper  Mining  Company,  and  he  was  lost  from  sight  in 
the  employ  of  that  company  at  fifteen  dollars  a  week 
again.  He  was  also  to  have  an  interest  in  any  mines  that 
he  should  discover  for  that  company.  But  I  do  not  believe 
that  he  has  ever  discovered  a  mine — I  do  not  know  any- 
thing about  it,  but  I  do  not  believe  he  has.  I  know  he 
had  scarcely  gone  from  the  old  homestead  before  the  farmer 
who  had  bought  the  homestead  went  out  to  dig  potatoes, 
and  as  he  was  bringing  them  in  in  a  large  basket  through 
the  front  gateway,  the  ends  of  the  stone  wall  came  so  near 
together  at  the  gate  that  the  basket  hugged  very  tight.  So 
he  set  the  basket  on  the  ground  and  pulled,  first  on  one 
side  and  then  on  the  other  side.  Our  farms  in  IMassachu- 
setts  are  mostly  stone  walls,  and  the  farmers  have  to  be 
economical  with  their  gateways  in  order  to  have  some  place 


324  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

to  jDut  the  stones.  That  basket  hugged  so  tight  there  that 
as  he  was  hauling  it  through  he  noticed  in  the  upper  stone 
next  the  gate  a  block  of  native  silver,  eight  inches  square; 
and  this  professor  of  mines  and  mining  and  mineralogy, 
who  would  not  work  for  forty-five  dollars  a  week,  when 
he  sold  that  homestead  in  Massachusetts,  sat  right  on  that 
stone  to  make  the  bargain.  He  was  brought  up  there;  he 
had  gone  back  and  forth  by  that  piece  of  silver^  rubbed  it 
with  his  sleeve,  and  it  seemed  to  say,  "  Come  now,  now, 
now,  here  is  a  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Why  not  take 
me  ?  "  But  he  would  not  take  it.  There  was  no  silver  in 
ISTewburyport ;  it  was  all  away  off  —  well,  I  don't  know 
where ;  he  didn't,  but  somewhere  else  —  and  he  was  a  pro- 
fessor of  mineralogy. 

I  do  not  know  of  anything  I  would  enjoy  better  than 
to  take  the  whole  time  to-night  telling  of  blunders  like  that 
I  have  heard  professors  make.  Yet  I  wish  I  knew  what 
that  man  is  doing  out  there  in  Wisconsin.  I  can  imagine 
him  out  there,  as  he  sits  by  his  fireside,  and  he  is  saying 
to  his  friends,  "  Do  you  know  that  man  Conwell  that  lives 
in  Philadelphia  ? "  "  Oh,  yes,  I  have  heard  of  him." 
"  And  do  you  know  that  man  Jones  that  lives  in  that 
city  ?  "  "  Yes,  I  have  heard  of  him."  And  then  he  begins 
to  laugh  and  laugh  and  says  to  his  friends,  "  They  have 
done  the  same  thing  I  did,  precisely.'*  And  that  spoils 
the  whole  joke,  because  you  and  I  have  done  it. 

Ninety  out  of  every  hundred  people  here  have  made 
that  mistake  this  very  day.  I  say  you  ought  to  be  rich ; 
you  have  no  right  to  be  poor.  To  live  in  Philadelphia 
and  not  be  rich  is  a  misfortune,  and  it  is  doubly  a  mis- 
fortime,  because  you  could  have  been  rich  just  as  well  as 
be  poor.  Philadelphia  furnishes  so  many  opportunities. 
You  ought  to  be  rich.  But  persons  with  certain  religious 
prejudice  will  ask,  "  How  can  you  spend  your  time  ad- 
vising the  rising  generation  to  give  their  time  to  getting 
money  —  dollars    and    cents  —  the    commercial    spirit  ?  " 

Yet  I  must  say  that  you  ought  to  spend  time  getting 
rich.  You  and  I  know  there  are  some  things  more  valuable 
than  money;  of  course,  we  do.    Ah,  yes !    By  a  heart  made 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  325 

unspeakably  sad  by  a  grave  on  which  the  autumn  leaves 
now  fall,  I  know  there  are  some  things  higher  and  grander 
and  sublimer  than  money.  Well  does  the  man  know,  who 
has  suffered,  that  there  are  some  things  sweeter  and  holier 
and  more  sacred  than  gold.  ISFevertheless,  the  man  of 
common  sense  also  knows  that  there  is  not  any  one  of  those 
things  that  is  not  greatly  enhanced  by  the  use  of  money. 
Money  is  power.  Love  is  the  grandest  thing  on  God's 
earth,  but  fortunate  the  lover  who  has  plenty  of  money. 
]\Ioney  is  power;  money  has  powers;  and  for  a  man  to  say, 
*'  I  do  not  want  money,"  is  to  say,  "  I  do  not  wish  to  do 
any  good  to  my  fellowmen."  It  is  absurd  thus  to  talk.  It 
is  absurd  to  disconnect  them.  This  is  a  wonderfully  great 
life,  and  you  ought  to  spend  your  time  getting  money,  be- 
cause of  the  power  there  is  in  money.  And  yet  this  re- 
ligious prejudice  is  so  great  that  some  people  think  it  is 
a  great  honor  to  be  one  of  God's  poor.  I  am  looking  in 
the  faces  of  people  who  think  just  that  way.  I  heard  a 
man  once  say  in  a  prayer  meeting  that  he  was  thankful 
that  he  was  one  of  God's  poor,  and  then  I  silently  won- 
dered what  his  wife  would  say  to  that  speech,  as  she  took 
in  washing  to  support  the  man  while  he  sat  and  smoked 
on  the  veranda.  I  don't  want  to  see  any  more  of  that  kind 
of  God's  poor.  iSTow,  when  a  man  could  have  been  rich 
just  as  well,  and  he  is  now  weak  because  he  is  poor,  he  has 
done  some  great  wrong ;  he  has  been  untruthful  to  himself ; 
he  has  been  unkind  to  his  fellowmen.  We  ought  to  get 
rich  if  we  can  by  honorable  and  Christian  methods,  and 
these  are  the  only  methods  that  sweep  us  quickly  toward 
the  goal  of  riches. 

I  remember,  not  many  years  ago  a  young  theological 
student  who  came  into  my  office  and  said  to  me  that  he 
thought  it  was  his  duty  to  come  in  and  "  labor  with  me." 
I  asked  him  what  had  happened,  and  he  said :  "  I  feel  it 
is  my  duty  to  come  in  and  speak  to  you,  sir,  and  say  that 
the  Holy  Scriptures  declare  that  money  is  the  root  of  all 
evil.  I  asked,  him  where  he  found  that  saying,  and  he  said 
he  found  it  in  the  Bible.  I  asked  him  whether  he  had 
made  a  new  Bible,  and  he  said,  no,  he  had  not  gotten  a 


326  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL" 

new  Bible,  that  it  was  in  the  old  Bible.  "  Well,"  I  said, 
"  if  it  is  in  my  Bible,  I  never  saw  it.  Will  5'ou  please  get 
the  text-book  and  let  me  see  it  ?  "  He  left  the  room  and 
soon  came  stalking  in  with  his  Bible  open,  with  all  the 
bigoted  pride  of  the  narrow  sectarian,  who  founds  his 
creed  on  some  misinterpretation  of  Scripture,  and  he  puts 
the  Bible  down  on  the  table  before  me  and  fairly  squealed 
into  my  ear,  "  There  it  is.  You  can  read  it  for  yourself." 
I  said  to  him,  "  Young  man,  you  will  le^rn,  when  you 
get  a  little  older,  that  you  cannot  trust  another  denomina- 
tion to  read  the  Bible  for  you."  I  said,  "  Now,  you  be- 
long to  another  denomination.  Please  read  it  to  me,  and 
remember  that  you  are  taught  in  a  school  where  emphasis 
is  exegesis."  So  he  took  the  Bible  and  read  it:  "  The  love 
of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil."  Then  he  had  it  right. 
The  Great  Book  has  come  back  into  the  esteem  and  love 
of  the  people,  and  into  the  respect  of  the  greatest  minds 
of  earth,  and  now  you  can  quote  it  and  rest  your  life  and 
your  death  on  it  Avithout  more  fear.  So,  when  he  quoted 
right  from  the  Scriptures  he  quoted  the  truth.  "  The 
love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil."  Oh,  that  is  it.  It 
is  the  worship  of  the  means  instead  of  the  end,  though 
you  cannot  reach  the  end  without  the  means.  When  a 
man  makes  an  idol  of  the  money  instead  of  the  purposes 
for  which  it  may  be  used,  when  he  squeezes  the  dollar  until 
the  eagle  squeals,  then  it  is  made  the  root  of  all  evil. 
Think,  if  you  only  had  the  money,  what  you  could  do  for 
your  wife,  your  child,  and  for  your  home  and  your  city. 
Think  how  soon  you  could  endow  the  Temple  College 
yonder  if  you  only  had  the  money  and  the  disposition  to 
give  it;  and  yet,  my  friend,  people  say  you  and  I  should 
not  spend  the  time  getting  rich.  How  inconsistent  the 
whole  thing  is.  We  ought  to  be  rich,  because  money  has 
power.  I  think  the  best  thing  for  me  to  do  is  to  illustrate 
this,  for  if  I  say  you  ought  to  get  rich,  I  ought,  at  least, 
to  suggest  how  it  is  done.  We  get  a  prejudice  against  rich 
men  because  of  the  lies  that  are  told  about  them.  The 
lies  that  are  told  about  Mr.  Rockefeller  because  he  has  two 
hundred  million  dollars  —  so  many  believe  them ;  yet  how 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  327 

false  is  the  representation  of  that  man  to  the  world.  How- 
little  we  can  tell  what  is  true  nowadays  when  newspapers 
tr}'  to  sell  their  papers  entirely  on  some  sensation !  The 
way  they  lie  about  the  rich  men  is  something  terrible,  and 
I  do  not  know  that  there  is  anything  to  illustrate  this 
better  than  what  the  newspapers  now  say  about  the  city 
of  Philadelphia.  A  young  man  came  to  me  the  other  day 
and  said,  "  If  Mr.  Eockefeller,  as  you  think,  is  a  good  man, 
why  is  it  that  everybody  says  so  much  against  him  ?  "  It 
is  because  he  has  gotten  ahead  of  us;  that  is  the  whole  of 
it  —  just  gotten  ahead  of  us.  Why  is  it  Mr.  Carnegie  is 
criticised  so  sharply  by  an  envious  world?  Because  he 
has  gotten  more  than  we  have.  If  a  man  knows  more  than 
I  know,  don't  I  incline  to  criticise  somewhat  his  learning? 
Let  a  man  stand  in  a  pulpit  and  preach  to  thousands,  and 
if  I  have  fifteen  people  in  my  church,  and  they're  all 
asleep,  don't  I  criticise  him?  We  always  do  that  to  the 
man  who  gets  ahead  of  us.  Why,  the  man  you  are  criticis- 
ing has  one  hundred  millions,  and  you  have  fifty  cents, 
and  both  of  you  have  just  what  you  are  worth.  One  of 
the  richest  men  in  this  country  came  into  my  home  and 
sat  down  in  my  parlor  and  said:  "Did  you  see  all  those 
lies  about  my  family  in  the  paper?"  "Certainly  I  did; 
I  knew  they  were  lies  when  I  saw  them."  "  Why  do  they 
lie  about  me  the  way  they  do  ?  "  "  Well,  I  said  to  him, 
"  if  you  will  give  me  your  check  for  one  hundred  millions, 
I  will  take  all  the  lies  along  with  it."  "  Well,"  said  he, 
"  I  don't  see  any  sense  in  their  thus  talking  about  my 
family  and  myself.  Conwell,  tell  me  frankly,  what  do  you 
think  the  American  people  think  of  me?"  "Well,"  said 
I,  "  they  think  you  are  the  blackest-hearted  villain  that 
ever  trod  the  soil!"  "But  what  can  I  do  about  it?" 
There  is  nothing  he  can  do  about  it,  and  yet  he  is  one  of 
the  sweetest  Christian  men  I  ever  knew.  If  you  get  a 
hundred  millions  you  will  have  the  lies;  you  will  be  lied 
about,  and  you  can  judge  your  success  in  any  line  by  the 
lies  that  are  told  about  you.  I  say  that  you  ought  to  be 
rich.  But  there  are  ever  coming  to  me  young  men  who 
say,  "  I  would  like  to  go  into  business,  but  I  cannot." 


328  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

"  Why  not  ?"  "  Because  I  have  no  capital  to  begin  on," 
Capital,  capital  to  begin  on !  What !  young  man !  Living 
in  Philadelphia  and  looking  at  this  wealthy  generation, 
all  of  whom  began  as  poor  boys,  and  you  want  capital  to 
begin  on  ?  It  is  fortunate  for  you  that  you  have  no  capital. 
I  am  glad  you  have  no  money.  I  pity  a  rich  man's  son. 
A  rich  man's  son  in  these  days  of  ours  occupies  a  very 
difficult  position.  They  are  to  be  pitied.  A  rich  man's 
son  cannot  know  the  very  best  things  in  human  life.  He 
cannot.  The  statistics  of  Massachusetts  show  us  that  not 
one  out  of  seventeen  rich  men's  sons  ever  die  rich.  They 
are  raised  in  luxury,  they  die  in  poverty.  Even  if  a  rich 
man's  son  retains  his  father's  money  even  then  he  cannot 
know  the  best  things  of  life. 

A  young  man  in  our  college  yonder  asked  me  to  formu- 
late for  him  what  I  thought  was  the  happiest  hour  in  a 
man's  history,  and  I  studied  it  long  and  came  back  con- 
vinced that  the  happiest  hour  that  any  man  ever  sees  in 
any  earthly  matter  is  when  a  young  man  takes  his  bride 
over  the  threshold  of  the  door,  for  the  first  time,  of  the 
house  he  himself  has  earned  and  built,  when  he  turns  to 
his  bride  and  with  an  eloquence  greater  than  any  language 
of  mine,  he  sayeth  to  his  wife,  "  My  loved  one,  I  earned 
this  home  myself;  I  earned  it  all.  It  is  all  mine,  and  I 
divide  it  with  thee."  That  is  the  grandest  moment  a 
human  heart  may  ever  see.  But  a  rich  man's  son  cannot 
know  that.  He  goes  into  a  finer  mansion,  it  may  be,  but 
he  is  obliged  to  go  through  the  house  and  say,  "  Mother 
gave  me  this,  mother  gave  me  that,  my  mother  gave  me 
that,  my  mother  gave  me  that,"  until  his  wife  wishes  she 
had  married  his  mother.  Oh,  I  pity  a  rich  man's  son.  I 
do.  Until  he  gets  so  far  along  in  his  dudeism  that  he  gets 
his  arms  up  like  that  and  can't  get  them  down.  Didn't 
you  ever  see  any  of  them  astray  at  Atlantic  City?  I  saw 
one  of  these  scarecrows  once  and  I  never  tire  thinking 
about  it.  I  was  at  Niagara  Falls  lecturing,  and  after  the 
lecture  I  went  to  the  hotel,  and  when  I  went  up  to  the  desk 
there  stood  there  a  millionaire's  son  from  New  York.  He 
was  an  indescribable  specimen  of  anthropologic  potency. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  329 

He  carried  a  gold-headed  cane  under  his  arm  —  more  in  its 
head  than  he  had  in  his.  I  do  not  believe  I  could  describe 
the  young  man  if  I  should  try.  But  still  I  must  say  that 
he  wore  an  eye-glass  he  could  not  see  through;  patent 
leather  shoes  he  could  not  walk  in,  and  pants  he  could  not 
sit  down  in  —  dressed  like  a  grasshopper!  Well,  this 
human  cricket  came  up  to  the  clerk's  desk  just  as  I  came 
in.  He  adjusted  his  unseeing  eye-glass  in  this  wise  and 
lisped  to  the  clerk,  because  it's  "  Hinglish,  you  know,"  to 
lisp :  "  Thir,  thir,  will  you  have  the  kindness  to  f uhnisli 
me  with  thome  papah  and  thome  envelopehs !  "  The  clerk 
measured  that  man  quick,  and  he  pulled  out  a  drawer  and 
took  some  envelopes  and  paper  and  cast  them  across  the 
counter  and  turned  away  to  his  books.  You  should  have 
seen  that  specimen  of  humanity  when  the  paper  and  en- 
velopes came  across  the  counter  —  he  whose  wants  had  al- 
ways been  anticipated  by  servants.  He  adjusted  his  un- 
seeing eye-glass  and  he  yelled  after  that  clerk :  "  Come 
back  here  thir,  come  right  back  here.  Now,  thir,  will  you 
order  a  thervant  to  take  that  papah  and  thothe  envelopes 
and  carry  them  to  yondah  dethk."  Oh,  the  poor  miserable, 
contemptible  American  monkey!  He  couldn't  carry  paper 
and  envelopes  twenty  feet.  I  suppose  he  could  not  get  his 
arms  down.  I  have  no  pity  for  such  travesties  of  human 
nature.  If  you  have  no  capital,  I  am  glad  of  it.  You 
don't  need  capital;  you  need  cohimon  sense,  not  copper 
cents. 

A.  T.  Stewart,  the  great  princely  merchant  of  Few 
York,  the  richest  man  in  America  in  his  time,  was  a  poor 
boy ;  he  had  a  dollar  and  a  half  and  went  into  the  mercan- 
tile business.  But  he  lost  eighty-seven  and  a  half  cents 
of  his  first  dollar  and  a  half  because  he  bought  some 
needles  and  thread  and  buttons  to  sell,  which  people  didn't 
want. 

Are  you  poor?  It  is  because  you  are  not  wanted  and  are 
left  on  your  own  hands.  There  was  the  great  lesson. 
Apply  it  whichever  way  you  will  it  comes  to  every  single 
person's  life,  young  or  old.  He  did  not  know  what  people 
needed,  and   consequently  bought  something  they  didn't 


330  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

M-ant,  and  had  the  goods  left  on  his  hands  a  dead  loss.  A. 
T.  Stewart  earned  there  the  great  lesson  of  his  mercantile 
life  and  said,  "  I  will  never  buy  anything  more  until  I 
first  learn  what  the  people  want;  then  I'll  make  the  pur- 
chase." He  went  around  to  the  doors  and  asked  them 
what  they  did  want,  and  when  he  found  out  what  they 
wanted,  he  invested  his  sixty-two  and  a  half  cents  and 
began  to  supply  "  a  known  demand."  I  care  not  what 
your  profession  or  occupation  in  life  may  be ;  I  care  not 
wdiether  you  are  a  lawyer,  a  doctor,  a  housekeeper,  teacher 
or  whatever  else,  the  principle  is  precisely  the  same.  We 
must  know  what  the  world  needs  first  and  then  invest  our- 
selves to  supply  that  need,  and  success  is  almost  certain. 
A.  T.  Stewart  went  on  until  he  was  worth  forty  millions. 
"  Well,"  you  will  sa}^,  "  a  man  can  do  that  in  New  York, 
but  cannot  do  it  here  in  Philadelphia."  The  statistics 
very  carefully  gathered  in  New  York  in  1889  showed  one 
hundred  and  seven  millionaires  in  the  city  worth  over  ten 
millions  apiece.  It  was  remarkable  and  people  think  they 
must  go  there  to  get  rich.  Out  of  that  one  hundred  and 
seven  millionaires  only  seven  of  them  made  their  money 
in  New  York,  and  the  others  moved  to  New  York  after 
their  fortunes  were  made,  and  sixty-seven  out  of  the  re- 
maining hundred  made  their  fortunes  in  towns  of  less  than 
six  thousand  people,  and  the  richest  man  in  the  country 
at  that  time  lived  in  a  town  of  thirty-five  hundred  in- 
habitants, and  always  lived  there  and  never  moved  away. 
It  is  not  so  much  where  you  are  as  what  you  are.  But 
at  the  same  time  if  the  largeness  of  the  city  comes  into 
the  problem,  then  remember  it  is  the  smaller  city  that 
furnishes  the  great  opportunity  to  make  the  millions  of 
money.  The  best  illustration  that  I  can  give  is  in  refer- 
ence to  John  Jacob  Astor,  who  was  a  poor  boy  and  who 
made  all  the  money  of  the  Astor  family.  He  made  more 
than  his  successors  have  ever  earned,  and  yet  he  once  held 
a  mortgage  on  a  millinery  store  in  New  York,  and  because 
the  people  could  not  make  enough  money  to  pay  the  in- 
terest and  the  rent,  he  foreclosed  the  mortgage  and  took 
possession  of  the  store  and  went  into  partnership  with 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  331 

the  man  who  had  failed.  He  kept  the  same  stock,  did 
not  give  them  a  dollar  of  capital,  and  he  left  them  alone 
and  went  out  and  sat  down  upon  a  bench  in  the  park. 
Out  there  on  that  bench  in  the  park  he  had  the  most  im- 
portant, and  to  my  mind,  the  pleasantest  part  of  that  part- 
nership business.  He  was  watching  the  ladies  as  they 
went  by;  and  where  is  the  man  that  wouldn't  get  rich  at 
that  business?  But  when  John  Jacob  Astor  saw  a  lady 
pass,  with  her  shoulders  back  and  her  head  up,  as  if  she 
did  not  care  if  the  whole  world  looked  on  her,  he 
studied  her  bonnet;  and  before  that  bonnet  was  out  of 
sight  he  knew  the  shape  of  the  frame  and  the  color  of  the 
trimmings,  the  curl  of  the —  something  on  a  bonnet. 
Sometimes  I  try  to  describe  a  woman's  bonnet,  but  it  is 
of  little  use,  for  it  would  be  out  of  style  to-morrow  night. 
So  John  Jacob  Astor  went  to  the  store  and  said :  "  Now, 
put  in  the  show  window  just  such  a  bonnet  as  I  describe 
to  you  because,"  said  he,  "  I  have  just  seen  a  lady  who 
likes  just  such  a  bonnet.  Do  not  make  up  any  more  till  I 
come  back."  And  he  went  out  again  and  sat  on  that  bench 
in  the  park,  and  another  lady  of  a  different  form  and  com- 
plexion passed  him  with  a  bonnet  of  different  shape  and 
color,  of  course.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "  put  such  a  bonnet  as 
that  in  the  show  window."  He  didn't  fill  his  show  window 
with  hats  and  bonnets  which  drive  people  away  and  then 
sit  in  the  back  of  the  store  and  bawl  because  the  people 
go  somewhere  else  to  trade.  He  didn't  put  a  hat  or  bonnet 
in  that  show  window  the  like  of  which  he  had  not  seen 
before  it  was  made  up. 

In  our  city  especially  there  are  great  opportunities  for 
m.anufacturing,  and  the  time  has  come  when  the  line  is 
drawn  very  sharply  between  the  stockholders  of  the  factory 
and  their  employes.  Now,  friends,  there  has  also  come  a 
discouraging  gloom  upon  this  country  and  the  laboring 
men  are  beginning  to  feel  that  they  are  being  held  down  by 
a  crust  over  their  heads  through  which  they  find  it  im- 
possible to  break,  and  the  aristocratic  money-owner  himself 
is  so  far  above  that  he  will  never  descend  to  their  assist- 
ance.    That  is  the  thought  that  is  in  the  minds  of  our 


332  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

people.  But,  friends,  never  in  the  history  of  our  country 
was  there  an  opportunity  so  great  for  the  poor  man  to  get 
rich  as  there  is  now  and  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  The 
very  tact  that  they  get  discouraged  is  what  prevents  them 
from  getting  rich.  That  is  all  there  is  to  it.  The  road 
is  open,  and  let  us  keep  it  open  between  the  poor  and  the 
rich.  I  know  that  the  labor  unions  have  two  great  prob- 
lems to  contend  with,  and  there  is  only  one  way  to  solve 
them.  The  labor  unions  are  doing  as  much  to  prevent  its 
solving  as  are  the  capitalists  to-day,  and  there  are  positive- 
ly two  sides  to  it.  The  labor  union  has  two  difficulties; 
the  first  one  is  that  it  began  to  make  a  labor  scale  for  all 
classes  on  a  par,  and  they  scale  down  a  man  that  can  earn 
five  dollars  a  day  to  two  and  a  half  a  day,  in  order  to  level 
up  to  him  an  imbecile  that  cannot  earn  fifty  cents  a  day. 
That  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  and  discouraging  things 
for  the  working  man.  He  cannot  get  the  results  of  his 
work  if  he  do  better  work  or  higher  work  or  work  longer; 
that  is  a  dangerous  thing,  and  in  order  to  get  every  labor- 
ing man  free  and  every  American  equal  to  every  other 
American,  let  the  laboring  man  ask  what  he  is  worth  and 
get  it  —  not  let  any  capitalist  say  to  him :  "  You  shall 
work  for  me  for  half  of  what  you  are  worth;  nor  let  any 
labor  organization  say :  "  You  shall  work  for  the  capital- 
ist for  half  your  worth."  Be  a  man,  be  independent,  and 
then  shall  the  laboring  man  find  the  road  ever  open  from 
poverty  to  wealth.  The  other  difficulty  that  the  labor  union 
has  to  consider,  and  this  problem  they  have  to  solve  them- 
selves, is  the  kind  of  orators  who  come  and  talk  to  them 
about  the  oppressive  rich.  I  can  in  my  dreams  recite  the 
oration  I  have  heard  again  and  again  under  such  circum- 
stances. My  life  has  been  with  the  laboring  man.  I  am  a 
laboring  man  myself.  I  have  often,  in  their  assemblies, 
heard  the  speech  of  the  man  who  has  been  invited  to  ad- 
dress the  labor  union.  The  man  gets  up  before  the  assem- 
bled company  of  honest  laboring  men  and  he  begins  by 
saying :  "  Oh,  ye  honest,  industrious  laboring  men,  who 
have  furnished  all  the  capital  of  the  world,  who  have  built 
all  the  palaces  and  constructed  all  the  railroads  and  cov- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  333 

ercd  the  ocean  with  her  steamships.  Oh,  you  laboring 
men!  You  are  nothing  but  skives;  you  are  ground  down 
in  the  dust  by  the  capitalist  who  is  gloating  over  you  as 
he  enjoys  his  beautiful  estates  and  as  he  has  his  banks 
filled  with  gold,  and  every  dollar  he  owns  is  coined  out 
of  the  hearts'  blood  of  the  honest  laboring  man/'  Now, 
that  is  a  lie,  and  you  know  it  is  a  lie ;  and  yet  that  is  the 
kind  of  speech  that  they  are  all  the  time  hearing,  repre- 
senting the  capitalists  as  wicked  and  the  laboring  men  so 
enslaved.  Why,  how  wrong  it  is !  Let  the  man  who  loves 
his  flag  and  believes  in  American  principles  endeavor  with 
all  his  soul  to  bring  the  capitalist  and  the  laboring  man  to- 
gether until  they  stand  side  by  side,  and  arm  in  arm,  and 
work  for  the  common  good  of  humanity. 

He  is  an  enemy  to  his  country  who  sets  capital  against 
labor  or  labor  against  capital. 

Suppose  I  were  to  go  down  through  this  audience  and 
ask  you  to  introduce  me  to  the  great  inventors  who  live 
here  in  Philadelphia.  "  The  inventors  of  Philadelphia," 
you  would  say,  "  Why  we  don't  have  any  in  Philadelphia. 
It  is  too  slow  to  invent  anything."  But  you  do  have  just 
as  great  inventors,  and  they  are  here  in  this  audience,  as 
ever  invented  a  machine.  But  the  probability  is  that  the 
greatest  inventor  to  benefit  the  world  with  his  discovery  is 
some  person,  perhaps  some  lady,  wha  thinks  she  could  not 
invent  anything.  Did  you  ever  study  the  history  of  inven- 
tion and  see  how  strange  it  was  that  the  man  who  made 
the  greatest  discovery  did  it  without  any  previous  idea 
that  he  was  an  inventor?  Who  are  the  great  inventors? 
They  are  persons  with  plain,  straightforward  common 
sense,  who  saw  a  need  in  the  world  and  immediately  ap- 
plied themselves  to  supply  that  need.  If  you  want  to 
invent  an}i;hing,  don't  try  to  find  it  in  the  wheels  in  your 
head  nor  the  wheels  in  your  machine,  but  first  find  out  what 
the  people  need,  and  then  apply  yourself  to  that  need,  and 
this  leads  to  invention  on  the  part  of  people  you  would  not 
dream  of  before.  The  great  inventors  are  simply  great 
men ;  the  greater  the  man  the  more  simple  the  man ;  and  the 
more  simple  a  machine,  the  more  valuable  it  is.     Did  vou 


334  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

ever  know  a  really  great  man  ?  His  ways  are  so  simple,  so 
common,  so  plain,  that  you  think  any  one  could  do  what 
he  is  doing.  So  it  is  with  the  great  men  the  world  over. 
If  you  know  a  really  great  man,  a  neighbor  of  yours,  you 
can  go  right  up  to  him  and  say,  "  How  are  you,  Jim,  good 
morning,  Sam/^  Of  course  you  can,  for  they  are  always  so 
simple. 

When  I  wrote  the  life  of  General  Garfield,  one  of  his 
neighbors  took  me  to  his  back  door,  and  shouted,  "  Jim, 
Jim,  Jim ! "  and  very  soon  "  Jim  "  came  to  the  door  and 
General  Garfield  let  me  in  —  one  of  the  grandest  men  of 
our  century.  The  great  men  of  the  world  are  ever  so.  I 
was  down  in  Virginia  and  went  up  to  an  educational  in- 
stitution and  was  directed  to  a  man  who  was  setting  out  a 
tree.  I  approached  him  and  said,  "  Do  you  think  it  would 
be  possible  for  me  to  see  General  Eobert  E.  Lee,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  University  ?  "  He  said,  "  Sir,  I  am  General 
Lee."  Of  course,  when  you  meet  such  a  man,  so  noble  a 
man  as  that,  you  will  find  him  a  simple,  plain  man. 
Greatness  is  always  just  so  modest  and  gi'eat  inventions 
are  simple. 

I  asked  a  class  in  school  once  who  were  the  great  in- 
ventors, and  a  little  girl  popped  up  and  said,  "  Columbus." 
Well,  now,  she  was  not  so  far  wrong.  Columbus  bought 
a  farm  and  he  carried  on  that  farm  Just  as  I  carried  on  my 
father's  farm.  He  took  a  hoe  and  went  out  and  sat  down 
on  a  rock.  But  Columbus,  as  he  sat  upon  that  shore  and 
looked  out  upon  the  ocean,  noticed  that  the  ships,  as  they 
sailed  away,  sank  deeper  into  the  sea  the  farther  they 
went.  And  since  that  time  some  other  "  Spanish  ships  " 
have  sunk  into  the  sea.  But  as  Columbus  noticed  that  the 
tops  of  the  masts  dropped  down  out  of  sight,  he  said: 
"  That  is  the  way  it  is  with  this  hoe  handle ;  if  you  go 
around  this  hoe  handle,  the  farther  off  you  go  the  farther 
down  you  go.  I  can  sail  around  to  the  East  Indies."  How 
plain  it  all  was.  How  simple  the  mind  —  majestic  like  the 
simplicity  of  a  mountain  in  its  greatness.  Who  are  the 
great  inventors?  They  are  ever* the  simple,  plain,  ever}'- 
day  people  who  see  the  need  and  set  about  to  supply  it. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  V/ORK        335 

I  was  once  lecturing  in  North  Carolina,  and  the  cashier 
of  the  bank  sat  directly  behind  a  lady  Avho  wore  a  very 
large  hat.  I  said  to  that  audience,  "  Your  wealth  is  too 
near  to  you;  you  are  looking  right  over  it."  He  whis- 
pered to  his  friend,  ''  Well,  then,  my  wealth  is  in  that 
hat."  A  little  later,  as  he  wrote  me,  I  said,  "  Wherever 
there  is  a  human  need  there  is  a  greater  fortune  than  a 
mine  can  furnish."  He  caught  my  thought,  and  he  drew 
up  his  plan  for  a  better  hat  pin  than  was  in  the  hat  before 
him,  and  the  pin  is  now  being  manufactured.  He  was 
offered  fifty-five  thousand  dollars  for  his  patent.  That 
man  made  his  fortune  before  he  got  out  of  that  hall.  This 
is  the  whole  question :  Do  you  see  a  need  ? 

I  remember  well  a  man  up  in  my  native  hills,  a  poor 
man,  who  for  twenty  years  was  helped  by  the  town  in  his 
poverty,  who  owned  a  wide-spreading  maple  tree  that 
covered  the  poor  man's  cottage  like  a  benediction  from  on 
high.  I  remember  that  tree,  for  in  the  spring  —  there 
were  some  roguish  boys  around  that  neighborhood  when 
I  was  young  —  in  the  spring  of  the  year  the  man  would 
put  a  bucket  there  and  the  spouts  to  catch  the  maple  sap, 
and  I  remember  where  that  bucket  was;  and  when  I  was 
young  the  boys  were,  oh,  so  mean,  that  they  went  to  that 
tree  before  than  man  had  gotten  out  of  bed  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  after  he  had  gone  to  bed. at  night,  and  drank  up 
that  sweet  sap.  I  could  swear  they  did  it.  He  didn't  make 
a  great  deal  of  maple  sugar  from  that  tree.  But  one  day 
he  made  the  sugar  so  white  and  crystaline  that  the 
visitor  did  not  believe  it  was  maple  sugar;  thought  maple 
sugar  must  be  red  or  black.  He  said  to  the  old  man: 
"  Why  don't  you  make  it  that  way  and  sell  it  for  confec- 
tionary ?  "  The  old  man  caught  his  thought  and  invented 
the  "  rock  maple  crystal,"  and  before  that  patent  expired 
he  had  ninety  thousand  dollars  and  had  built  a  beautiful 
palace  on  the  site  of  that  tree.  After  forty  years  owning 
that  tree  he  awoke  to  find  it  had  fortunes  of  money  indeed 
in  it.  And  many  of  us  are  right  by  the  tree  that  has  a 
fortune  for  us,  and  we  own  it,  possess  it,  do  what  we  will 
with  it,  but  we  do  not  learn  its  value  because  we  do  not 


336  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

sec  the  human  need,  and  in  these  discoveries  and  inven- 
tions this  is  one  of  the  most  romantic  things  of  life. 

I  have  received  letters  from  all  over  the  country  and 
from  England,  where  I  have  lectured,  saying  that  they 
have  discovered  this  and  that,  and  one  man  out  in  Ohio 
took  me  through  his  great  factories  last  spring,  and  said 
that  they  cost  him  $680,000,  and  said  he,  "  I  was  not  worth 
a  cent  in  the  world  when  I  heard  your  lecture  "  Acres  of 
Diamonds '' ;  but  I  made  up  my  mind  to  stop  right  here 
and  make  my  fortune  here,  and  here  it  is.  He  showed 
me  through  his  unmortgaged  possessions.  And  this  is  a 
continual  experience  now  as  I  travel  through  the  country, 
after  these  many  years,  I  mention  this  incident,  not  to 
boast,  but  to  show  you  that  you  can  do  the  same  if  you 
will. 

Who  are  the  great  inventors  ?  I  remember  a  good  illus- 
tration in  a  man  who  used  to  live  in  East  Brookfield, 
Mass,  He  was  a  shoemaker,  and  he  was  out  of  work,  and 
he  sat  around  the  house  until  his  wife  told  him  "  to  go  out 
doors,"  And  he  did  what  every  husband  is  compelled  by 
law  to  do  —  he  obeyed  his  wife.  And  he  went  out  and 
sat  down  on  an  ash  barrel  in  his  back  yard.  Think  of  it! 
Stranded  on  an  ash  barrel  and  the  enemy  in  possession 
of  the  house !  As  he  sat  on  that  ash  barrel,  he  looked  down 
into  that  little  brook  which  ran  through  that  back  yard 
into  the  meadows,  and  he  saw  a  little  trout  go  flashing  up 
the  stream  and  hiding  under  the  bank.  I  do  not  suppose 
he  thought  of  Tennyson's  beautiful  poem : 

"  Chatter,  chatter,  as  I  flow, 
To  join  the  brimming  river, 

Men  may  come,  and  men  may  go, 
But  I  go  on  forever." 

But  as  this  man  looked  into  the  brook,  he  leaped  off 
that  ash  barrel  and  managed  to  catch  the  trout  with  his 
fingers,  and  sent  it  to  Worcester.  They  wrote  back  that 
they  would  give  him  a  five  dollar  bill  for  another  such 
trout  as  that,  not  that  it  was  worth  that  much,  but  he 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  337 

wished  to  help  the  poor  man.  So  this  shoemaker  and  his 
wife,  now  perfectly  united,  that  five  dollar  bill  in  prospect, 
went  out  to  get  another  trout.  They  went  up  the  stream 
to  its  source  and  down  to  the  brimming  river,  but  not  an- 
other trout  could  they  find  in  the  whole  stream;  and  so 
they  came  home  disconsolate  and  went  to  the  minister. 
The  minister  didn't  know  how  trout  grew,  but  he  pointed 
the  way.  Said  he,  "  Get  Seth  Green's  book,  and  that  will 
give  you  the  information  you  want."  They  did  so,  and 
found  all  about  the  culture  of  trout.  They  found  that  a 
trout  lays  thirty-six  hundred  eggs  every  year  and  every 
trout  gains  a  quarter  of  a  pound  every  year,  so  that  in 
four  years  a  little  trout  will  furnish  four  tons  per  annum 
to  sell  to  the  market  at  fifty  cents  a  pound.  When  they 
found  that,  they  said  they  didn't  believe  any  such  story  as 
that,  but  if  they  could  get  five  dollars  a  piece  they  could 
make  something.  And  right  in  that  same  back  yard  with 
the  coal  sifter  up  stream  and  window  screen  down  the 
stream,  they  began  the  culture  of  trout.  They  afterwards 
moved  to  the  Hudson,  and  since  then  he  has  become  the 
authority  in  the  United  .States  upon  the  raising  of  fish,  and 
he  has  been  next  to  the  highest  on  the  United  States  Fish 
Commission  in  Washington.  My  lesson  is  that  man's 
wealth  was  out  there  in  his  back  yard  for  twenty  years, 
but  he  didn't  see  it  until  his  wife  drove  him  out  with  a 
mop  stick. 

I  remember  meeting  personally  a  poor  carpenter  of 
Hingham,  Massachusetts,  who  was  out  of  work  and  in 
poverty.  His  wife  also  drove  him  out  of  doors.  He  sat 
down  on  the  shore  and  whittled  a  soaked  shingle  into  a 
wooden  chain.  His  children  quarreled  over  it  in  the  even- 
ing, and  while  he  was  whittling  a  second  one,  a  neighbor 
came  along  and  said,  "  Wliy  don't  you  whittle  toys  if  you 
can  carve  like  that  ?  "  He  said,  "  I  don't  know  what  to 
make ! "  There  is  the  whole  thing.  His  neighbor  said  to 
him :  "  Why  don't  you  ask  your  own  children  ?  "  Said  he, 
"  What  is  the  use  of  doing  that  ?  My  children  are  different 
from  other  people's  children."  I  used  to  see  people  like 
that  when  I  taught  school.     The  next  morning  when  his 


338  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

bo}''  came  down  the  stairwaj',  he  said,  "  Sam,  what  do  you 
want  for  a  toy?'  "I  want  a  wheel-barrow."  When  his 
little  girl  came  down,  he  asked  her  what  she  wanted,  and 
she  said,  "  I  want  a  little  doll's  washstand,  a  little  doll's 
carriage,  a  little  doll's  umbrella,"  and  went  on  with  a  whole 
lot  of  things  that  would  have  taken  his  lifetime  to  supply. 
He  consulted  his  own  children  right  there  in  his  own  house 
and  began  to  whittle  out  toys  to  please  them.  He  began 
with  his  jack-knife,  and  made  those  unpainted  Hingham 
toys.  He  is  the  richest  man  in  the  entire  New  England 
States,  if  Mr.  Lawson  is  to  be  trusted  in  his  statement 
concerning  such  things,  and  yet  that  man's  fortune  was 
made  by  consulting  his  own  children  in  his  own  house. 
You  don't  need  to  go  out  of  your  own  house  to  find  out 
what  to  invent  or  what  to  make.  I  always  talk  too  long 
on  this  subject. 

I  would  like  to  meet  the  great  men  who  are  here  to- 
night. The  great  men !  We  don't  have  any  great  men  in 
Philadelphia.  Great  men!  You  say  that  they  all  ccme 
from  London,  or  San  Francisco,  or  Eome,  or  Manayunk, 
or  anywhere  else  but  here  —  anywhere  else  but  Philadel- 
phia —  and  yet,  in  fact,  there  are  just  as  great  men  in 
Philadelphia  as  in  any  city  of  its  size.  There  are  great 
men  and  women  in  this  audience.  Great  men,  I  have  said, 
are  very  simple  men.  Just  as  many  great  men  here  as  are 
to  be  found  anywhere.  The  greatest  error  in  judging 
great  men  is  that  we  think  that  they  always  hold  an  office. 
The  world  knows  nothing  of  its  greatest  men.  Who  are 
the  great  men  of  the  world?  The  young  man  and  young 
woman  may  well  ask  the  question.  It  is  not  necessary 
that  they  should  hold  an  office,  and  yet  that  is  the 
popular  idea.  That  is  the  idea  we  teach  now  in  our  high 
schools  and  common  schools,  that  the  great  men  of  the 
world  are  those  who  hold  some  high  office,  and  unless  -we 
change  that  very  soon  and  do  away  with  that  prejudice, 
we  are  going  to  change  to  an  empire.  There  is  no  ques- 
tion about  it.  We  must  teach  that  men  are  great  only  on 
their  intrinsic  value,  and  not  on  the  position  that  they 
may  incidentally  happen  to  occupy.     And  yet,  don't  blame 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  339 

the  yoimg  men  saying  that  they  are  going  to  be  great 
when  they  get  into  some  official  position.  I  ask  this  audi- 
ence again  who  of  you  are  going  to  be  great?  Says  a 
young  man :  "  I  am  going  to  be  great."  "  When  are  you 
going  to  be  great  ?  "  "  When  I  am  elected  to  some  politi- 
cal office."  ^^on't  you  learn  the  lesson,  young  man;  that 
it  is  prima  facie  evidence  of  littleness  to  hold  public  office 
under  our  form  of  government?  Think  of  it.  This  is  a 
government  of  the  people,  and  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people,  and  not  for  the  office-holder,  and  if  the  people  in 
this  country  rule  as  they  always  should  rule,  an  office- 
holder is  only  the  servant  of  the  people,  and  the  Bible 
says  that  "  the  servant  cannot  be  greater  than  his  master." 
The  Bible  says  that  "  he  that  is  sent  cannot  be  greater 
than  him  who  sent  him."  In  this  country  the  people  are 
the  masters,  and  the  office-holders  can  never  be  greater  than 
the  people ;  they  should  be  honest  servants  of  the  people, 
but  they  are  not  our  greatest  men.  Young  man,  remember 
that  you  never  heard  of  a  great  man  holding  any  political 
office  in  this  country  unless  he  took  that  office  at  an  ex- 
jjense  to  himself.  It  is  a  loss  to  every  great  man  to  taJve 
a  public  office  in  our  coimtry.  Bear  this  in  mind,  young 
man,  that  you  cannot  be  made  great  by  a  political  election. 

Another  young  man  says,  "  I  am  going  to  be  a  great 
man  in  Philadelphia  some  time."  "Js  that  so?  When  are 
you  going  to  be  great  ?  "  "  When  there  comes  another  war ! 
When  we  get  into  difficulty  with  Mexico,  or  England,  or 
Eussia,  or  Japan,  or  with  Spain  again  over  Cuba,  or  with 
New  Jersey,  I  will  march  up  to  the  cannon's  mouth,  and 
amid  the  glistening  bayonets  I  will  tear  down  their  flag 
from  its  staff,  and  I  will  come  home  with  stars  on  my 
shoulders,  and  hold  every  office  in  the  gift  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  I  will  be  great."  "  ISTo^  you  won't !  No,  you 
won't;  that  is  no  evidence  of  true  greatness,  young  man." 
But  don't  blame  that  young  man  for  thinking  that  way; 
that  is  the  way  he  is  taught  in  the  high  school.  That  is 
the  way  history  is  taught  in  college.  He  is  taught  that  the 
men  who  held  the  office  did  all  the  fighting, 

I  remember  we  had  a  Peace  Jubilee  here  in  Philadelphia 


54a  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

soon  after  the  Spanish  war.  Perhaps  some  of  these  visitors 
think  we  should  not  have  had  it  until  now  in  Philadelphia, 
and  as  the  great  procession  was  going  up  Broad  street  I 
was  told  that  the  tally-ho  coach  stopped  right  in  front 
of  my  house,  and  on  the  coach  was  Hobson,  and  all  the 
people  threw  up  their  hats  and  swung  their  handkercliiefs, 
and  shouted  "  Hurrah  for  Hobson !  "  I  would  have  yelled 
too,  because  he  deserves  much  more  of  his  country  than 
he  has  ever  received.  But  suppose  I  go  into  the  High 
School  to-morrow  and  ask,  "  Boys,  who  sunk  the  Merri- 
mac  ?  "  If  they  answer  me  "  Hobson,"  they  tell  me  seven- 
eighths  of  a  lie  —  seven-eighths  of  a  lie,  because  there  were 
eight  men  who  sunk  the  Merrimac.  The  other  seven  men, 
by  virtue  of  their  position,  were  continually  exposed  to 
the  Spanish  fire,  while  Hobson,  as  an  officer,  might  reason- 
ably be  behind  the  smoke-stack.  "WHiy,  my  friends,  in  this 
intelligent  audience  gathered  here  to-night  I  do  not  be- 
lieve I  could  find  a  single  person  that  can  name  the  other 
seven  men  who  were  with  Hobson.  Why  do  we  teach  his- 
tory in  that  way  ?  We  ought  to  teach  that  however  humble 
the  station  a  man  may  occupy,  if  he  docs  his  full  duty  in 
his  place,  he  is  just  as  much  entitled  to  the"  American 
people's  honor  as  is  a  king  upon  a  throne.  We  do  teach 
it  as  a  mother  did  her  little  boy  in  New  York  when  he 
said,  "  Mamma,  what  great  building  is  that  ?  "  "  That  is 
General  Grant's  tomb."  "Who  was  General  Grant?" 
"  He  was  the  man  who  put  down  the  rebellion."  Is  that 
the  way  to  teach  history? 

Do  you  think  we  would  have  gained  a  victory  if  it  had 
depended  on  General  Grant  alone?  Oh,  no.  Then  why 
is  there  a  tomb  on  the  Hudson  at  all?  Why,  not  simply 
because  General  Grant  was  personally  a  great  man  him- 
self, but  that  tomb  is  there  because  he  was  a  representative 
man  and  represented  two  hundred  thousand  men  who  went 
down  to  death  for  their  nation  and  many  of  them  as  great 
as  General  Grant.  That  is  why  that  beautiful  tomb  stands 
on  the  heights  over  the  Hudson. 

I  remember  an  incident  that,  will  illustrate  this,  the 
only  one  that  I  can  give  to-night.     I  am  ashamed  of  it^ 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  V/ORK         341 

but  I  don't  dare  leave  it  out.  I  close  my  eyes  now ;  I  look 
back  through  the  years  to  1863 ;  I  can  see  liiy  native  town 
in  the  Berkshire  Hills,  I  can  see  that  cattle-show  ground 
filled  with  people ;  I  can  see  the  church  there  and  the  town 
hall  crowded,  and  hear  bands  playing,  and  see  flags  flying 
and  handkerchiefs  steaming  —  well  do  I  recall  at  this 
moment  that  day.  The  people  had  turned  out  to  receive 
a  company  of  soldiers,  and  that  company  came  marching 
up  on  the  Common.  They  had  served  out  one  term  in  the 
Civil  War  and  had  re-enlisted,  and  they  were  being  re- 
ceived by  their  native  townsmen.  I  was  but  a  boy,  but  I 
was  captain  of  that  company,  puffed  out  with  pride  on  that 
day  —  why,  a  cambric  needle  would  have  burst  me  all  to 
pieces.  As  I  marched  on  the  Common  at  the  head  of 
my  company,  there  was  not  a  man  more  proud  than 
I.  We  marched  into  the  town  hall  and  then  they  seated 
my  soldiers  down  in  the  center  of  the  house  and  I  took 
my  place  down  on  the  front  seat,  and  then  the  town 
officers  filed  through  the  great  throng  of  people,  who  stood 
close  and  packed  in  that  little  hall.  They  came  up  on  the 
platform,  formed  a  half  circle  around  it,  and  the  mayor 
of  the  town,  the  "  chairman  of  the  Select  men  "  in  New 
England,  took  his  seat  in  the  middle  of  that  half  circle. 
He  was  an  old  man,  his  hair  was  gray;  he  never  held  an 
office  before  in  his  life.  He  thought  that  an  office  was  all  he 
needed  to  be  a  tridy  great  man,  and'when  he  came  up  he  ad- 
justed his  powerful  spectacles  and  glanced  calmly  around 
the  audience  with  amazing  dignity.  Suddenly  his  eyes  fell 
upon  me,  and  then  the  good  old  man  came  right  for^vard 
and  invited  me  to  come  up  on  the  stand  with  the  town  offi- 
cers. Invited  me  up  on  the  stand !  No  town  officer  ever 
took  notice  of  me  before  I  went  to  war.  Now,  I  should  not 
say  that.  One  town  officer  was  there  who  advised  the  teach- 
er to  "  whale  "  me,  but  I  mean  no  "  honorable  mention." 
So  I  was  invited  up  on  the  stand  with  the  town  officers.  I 
took  my  seat  and  let  my  sword  fall  on  the  floor,  and  folded 
my  arms  across  my  breast  and  waited  to  be  received.  Na- 
poleon the  Fifth !  Pride  goeth  before  destruction  and  a 
fall.     When  I  had  gotten  my  seat  and  all  became  silent 


342  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

through  the  hall,  the  chairman  of  the  Select  men  arose 
and  came  forward  with  great  dignity  to  the  table,  and  we 
all  supposed  he  would  introduce  the  Congregational  min- 
ister, who  was  the  only  orator  in  the  town,  and  who  would 
give  the  oration  to  the  returning  soldiers.  But,  friends, 
you  should  have  seen  the  surprise  that  ran  over  that  audi- 
ence when  they  discovered  that  this  old  farmer  was  going 
to  deliver  that  oration  himself.  He  had  never  made  a 
speech  in  his  life  before,  but  he  fell  into  the  same  error  that 
others  have  fallen  into,  he  seemed  to  think  that  the  ofiice 
would  make  him  an  orator.  So  he  had  written  out  a 
speech  and  walked  up  and  down  the  pasture  until  he 
had  learned  it  by  heart  and  frightened  the  cattle,  and  he 
brought  that  manuscript  with  liim,  and  taking  it  from 
his  pocket,  he  spread  it  carefully  upon  the  table.  Then 
he  adjusted  his  spectacles  to  be  sure  that  he  might  see  it, 
and  walked  far  loack  on  the  platform  and  then  stepped 
forward  like  this.  He  must  have  studied  the  subject 
much,  for  he  assumed  an  elocutionary  attitude ;  he  rested 
heavily  upon  his  left  heel,  slightly  advanced  the  right  foot, 
threw  back  his  shoulders,  opened  the  organs  of  speech,  and 
advanced  his  right  hand  at  an  angle  of  forty-five.  As  he 
stood  in  that  elocutionary  attitude  this  is  just  the  way 
that  speech  went,  this  is  it  precisely.  Some  of  my  friends 
have  asked  me  if  I  do  not  exaggerate  it,  but  I  could  not 
exaggerate  it.  Impossible!  This  is  the  way  it  went; 
although  I  am  not  here  for  the  story  but  the  lesson  that 
is  back  of  it: 

"  Fellow  citizens."  As  soon  as  he  heard  his  voice,  his 
hand  began  to  shake  like  that,  his  knees  began  to  tremble, 
and  then  he  shook  all  over.  He  coughed  and  choked  and 
finally  came  around  to  look  at  his  manuscript.  Then  he 
began  again :  "  Fellow  citizens :  We  —  are  —  we  are  — 
we  are  —  we  are —  We  are  very  happy  —  we  are  very 
happy — 'we  are  very  happy  —  to  welcome  back  to  their 
native  town  these  soldiers  who  have  foujrht  and  bled  —  and 
come  back  again  to  their  native  town.  We  are  especially  — 
we  are  especially — 'We  are  especjallv  —  we  are  especially 
pleased  to  see  with  us  to-day  tliis  young  hero  (that  meant. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  343 

me)  — this  yonng  hero  who  in  imagination  (friends,  re- 
member, he  said  "  imagination,"  for  if  he  had  not  said  that, 
I  would  not  be  egotistical  enough  to  refer  to  it)  — this 
3'oung  hero  who,  in  imagination,  we  have  seen  leading  his 
troops  —  leading  —  we  have  seen  leading  —  we  have  seen 
leading  his  troops  on  to  the  deadly  breach.  We  have  seen 
his  shining  —  his  shining  —  we  have  seen  his  shining  — 
we  have  seen  his  shining  —  his  shining  sword  —  flashing  in 
the  sunlight  as  he  shouted  to  his  troops,  '  Come  on ! ' " 

Oh,  dear,  dear,  dear,  dear!  How  little  that  good,  old 
man  knew  about  war.  If  he  had  known  anything  about 
war,  he  ought  to  have  known  what  any  soldier  in  this 
audience  knows  is  true,  that  it  is  next  to  a  crime  for  an 
officer  of  infantry  ever  in  time  of  danger  to  go  ahead  of 
his  men.  I,  with  my  shining  sword  iiashing  in  the  sun- 
light, shouting  to  my  troops :  '''  Come  on."  I  never  did 
it.  Do  you  suppose  I  would  go  ahead  of  my  men  to  be 
shot  in  the  front  by  the  enemy  and  in  the  back  by  my 
own  men?  That  is  no  place  for  an  officer.  The  place 
for  the  officer  is  behind  the  private  soldier  in  actual 
fighting.  How  often,  as  a  staff  officer,  I  rode  down 
the  line  when  the  Eebel  cry  and  yell  was  coming  out 
of  the  woods,  sweeping  along  over  the  fields,  and 
shouted,  "  Officers  to  the  rear !  Officers  to  the  rear ! " 
and  then  every  officer  goes  behind  the  line  of  battle,  and 
the  higher  the  officer's  rank,  the  farther  behind  he  goes. 
Not  because  he  is  any  the  less  brave,  but  because  the  laws 
of  war  require  that  to  be  done.  If  the  general  came  up 
on  the  front  line  and  were  killed  you  would  lose  your 
battle  anyhow,  because  he  has  the  plan  of  the  battle  in 
his  brain,  and  must  be  kept  in  comparative  safety.  I, 
with  my  "  shining  sword  fiaslnAig  in  the  sunlight."  Ah ! 
There  sat  in  the  hall  that  day  men  who  had  given  that 
boy  their  last  hardtack,  who  had  carried  him  on  their 
backs  through  deep  rivers.  But  some  were  not  there; 
they  had  gone  down  to  death  for  their  country.  The 
speaker  mentioned  them,  but  they  were  but  little  noticed, 
and  yet  they  had  gone  down  to  death  for  their  countrv, 
gone' down  for  a  cause  they  believed  was  right  and  still 


344  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

believe  was  right,  though  I  grant  to  the  other  side  the 
same  that  I  ask  for  myself.  Yet  these  men  who  had  ac- 
tually died  for  their  country  were  little  noticed,  and  the 
hero  of  the  hour  was  this  boy.  Why  was  he  the  hero? 
Simply  because  that  man  fell  into  that  same  foolishness. 
This  boy  was  an  officer,  and  those  were  only  private 
soldiers,  I  learned  a  lesson  that  I  will  never  forget. 
Greatness  consists  not  in  holding  some  office ;  greatness 
really  consists  in  doing  some  great  deed  with  little  means, 
in  the  accomplishment  of  vast  purposes  from  the  private 
ranks  of  life;  that  is  true  greatness.  He  who  can  give 
to  this  people  better  streets,  better  homes,  better  schools, 
better  churches,  more  religion,  more  of  happiness,  more 
of  God,  he  that  can  be  a  blessing  to  the  community,  in 
which  he  lives  to-night  will  be  great  anywhere,  but  he 
who  cannot  be  a  blessing  where  he  now  lives  will  never  be 
great  anywhere  on  the  face  of  God's  earth.  "  We  live 
in  deeds,  not  years,  in  feeling,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial; 
in  thoughts,  not  breaths;  we  should  count  time  by  heart 
throbs,  in  the  cause  of  right.  Bailey  says :  "  He  most 
lives  who  thinks  most." 

If  you  forget  everything  I  have  said  to  you,  do  not  for- 
get this,  because  it  contains  more  in  two  lines  than  all  I 
have  said.  Bailey  says :  "  He  most  lives  who  thinks 
most,  who  feels  the  noblest,  and  who  acts  the  best." 


"PERSOXAL  GLIMPSES   OF   CELEBRATED  MEN" 
AND  WOMEN."  * 

WHEN  I  had  been  lecturing  forty  years,  which  is 
now  four  years  ago,  the  Lecture  Bureau  sug- 
gested that  before  I  retire  from  the  public  plat- 
form, that  I  should  prepare  one  subject  and  deliver  it 
through  the  country.  For  I  had  told  the  Bureau  thirty 
years  ago  that  when  I  had  lectured  forty  years,  I  would 
retire.  They  therefore  suggested  a  talk  on  this  topic, 
"Personal  Glimpses  of  Celebrated  Men  and  Women." 
But  a  death  in  our  family  which  destroyed  the  home- 
ness  of  our  house  produced  such  an  effect  upon  us 
that  after  the  forty  years  came  we  found  that  we 
would  rather  wander  than  stay  at  home,  and  con- 
sequently we  are  traveling  still,  and  will  do  so  until  the 
end.  This  explanation  will  show  why  many  of  these 
things  are  said.  For  I  must  necessarily  bring  myself 
often  into  this  topic,  sometimes  unpleasantly  to  myself. 
Mark  Twain  says,  that  the  trouble  with  an  old  man  is 
that  he  "  remembers  so  many  things  that  ain't  so,"  and 
with  Mark  Twain's  caution  in  my  ears,  I  will  try  to  give 
you  these  "  Personal  Glimpses  of  Celebrated  Men  and 
Women." 

I  do  not  claim  to  be  a  very  intimate  friend  of  great 
men.  But  a  fly  may  look  at  an  elephant,  and  for  this 
reason  we  may  glance  at  the  great  men  and  women  whom 
I  have  seen  through  the  many  years  of  public  life.  Some- 
times those  glimpses  give  us  a  better  idea  of  the  real  man 
or  woman  than  an  entire  biography  written  while  he  was 
living  would  do;  and  to-night  as  a  grandfather  would 
bring  his  grandchildren  to  his  knee  and  tell  them  of  his 

*  Steaographic  report  by  A.   Russell  Smith,  Sec'y. 

345 


346  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONV/ELL 

little  experiences,  so  let  me  tell  to  you  these  incidents  in 
a  life  now  so  largely  lived  out. 

As  I  glance  back  to  the  Hampshire  Highlands  of  the 
dear  old  Berkshire  Hills  in  Massachusetts,  where  my 
father  worked  as  a  farmer  among  the  rocks  for  twenty 
years  to  pay  off  a  mortgage  of  twelve  hundred  dollars  upon 
his  little  farm,  my  elder  brother  and  myself  slept  in 
the  attic  which  had  one  window  in  the  gable  end, 
composed  of  four  lights  and  those  very  small.  I  re- 
member that  attic  so  distinctly  now,  with  the  ears  of  corn 
hung  by  the  husks  on  the  bare  rafters,  the  rats  running 
over  the  floor  and  sometimes  over  the  faces  of  the  boys; 
the  patter  of  the  rain  upon  the  roof,  and  the  whistle  of 
the  wind  around  that  gable  end,  the  sifting  of  the  snows 
through  the  hole  in  the  window  over  the  pillow  on  our 
bed.  While  these  things  may  appear  very  simple  and 
homely  before  this  great  audience,  yet  I  mention  them 
because  in  this  house  I  had  a  glimpse  of  the  first  great 
man  I  ever  saw.  It  was  far  in  the  country,  far  from  the 
railroad,  far  from  the  city,  yet  into  that  region  there 
came  occasionally  a  man  or  woman  whose  name  is  a 
household  word  in  the  world.  In  those  mountains  of  my 
boyhood  there  was  then  an  "  underground  railroad  "  run- 
ning from  Virginia  to  Canada.  It  was  called  an  "  under- 
ground railroad,"  although  it  was  a  system  by  which  the 
escaped  slaves  from  Virginia  came  into  Delaware,  from 
Delaware  into  Philadelphia,  then  to  New  York,  then  to 
Springfield,  and  from  .Springfield  my  father  took  the 
slaves  by  night  to  Worthington,  Mass.,  and  they  were 
sent  on  by  St.  Albans,  over  the  Canada  line  into  liberty. 
Tliis  "  underground  railroad  "  system  was  composed  of  a 
chain  of  men  of  whom  my  father  was  one  link.  One 
night  my  father  drove  up  in  the  dark,  and  my  elder 
brother  and  I  looked  out  to  see  who  it  was  he  had 
brought  home  witli  him.  We  supposed  he  had  brought 
a  slave  whom  he  was  helping  to  escape.  Oh,  those  dreary, 
dark  days,  when  we  were  in  continual  dread  lest  the 
United  States  IMarshal  should  arrest  my  father,  throw 
him  into  prison  for  thus  assisting  these  fugitive  slaves. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  347 

The  gloomy  momor}^  of  those  early  years  chills  me  now. 
But  as  we  gazed  out  that  dark  night,  we  saw  that  it  was 
a  white  man  with  father  and  who  helped  unhitch  the 
horses  and  put  them  in  the  barn.  In  the  morning  this 
white  man  sat  at  the  breakfast  table  and  my  father  in- 
troduced him  to  us,  saying :  "  Boys,  this  is  Frederick 
Douglass,  the  great  colored  orator."  While  I  looked  at 
him,  giggling  as  boys  will  do,  Mr.  Douglass  turned  to  us 
and  said,  "  Yes,  boys,  I  am  a  colored  man ;  my  mother 
was  a  colored  woman  and  my  father  a  white  man,"  and 
said  he,  "  I  have  never  seen  my  father,  and  I  do  not 
know  much  about  my  mother.  I  remember  her  once 
when  she  interfered  between  me  and  the  overseer,  who 
was  whipping  m.e,  and  she  received  the  lash  upon  her 
cheek  and  shoulder,  and  her  blood  ran  across  my  face.  I 
remember  washing  her  blood  from  my  face  and  clothes." 
That  story  made  a  deep  impression  on  us  boys,  stamped 
indelibly  on  our  memories.  Frederick  Douglass  is  thus 
mentioned  to  illustrate  the  subject  that  I  have  come  to 
teach  to-night.  He  frequently  came  to  our  house  after 
that  and  my  mother  often  said  to  him,  "  Mr.  Douglass, 
you  wilt  work  yourself  to  death,"  but  he  replied  that  until 
the  slaves  were  free,  and  that  would  be  very  soon,  he 
must  devote  his  life  to  them.  But  after  that,  said  he,  "  I 
will  retire  to  Eochester,  New  York,  where  I  have  some 
land  and  will  build  a  house."  'He  told  us  how  many 
rooms  it  would  have,  what  decorations  would  be  there,  but 
when  the  war  had  been  over  several  years,  he  came  to 
the  house  again  and  my  father  asked  him  about  the 
house  in  Eochester.  *'  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  have  not  built 
that  one  yet,  but  I  have  my  plans  for  it.  I  have  some 
work  yet  to  do;  I  must  take  care  of  the  freedmen  in  the 
South,  and  look  after  their  financial  prosperity,  then  I 
will  build  my  cottage."  You  all  remember  that  he  never 
built  his  house,  but  suddenly  went  on  into  the  unknown 
of  the  greatest  work  of  his  life. 

I  remember  that  in  1853,  my  father  came  with  another 
man  who  was  put  for  the  night  into  the  northwest  bed- 
room —  this   is  the  room  where   those   New   En^landers 


348  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

always  put  their  friends,  because,  perhaps,  pneumonia 
comes  there  first  —  that  awful,  cold,  dismal,  northwest 
bedroom.  Thinking  a  favorite  uncle  had  come,  I  went 
to  the  door  early  in  the  morning.  The  door  was  shut  — 
one  of  those  doors  which,  if  you  lift  the  latch,  the  door 
imniediately  swings  open.  I  lifted  the  latch  and  pre- 
pared to  leap  in  to  awaken  my  uncle  and  astonish  him  by 
my  early  morning  greeting.  But  when  the  door  swung 
back,  I  glanced  toward  the  bed.  The  astonishment  chills 
me  at  this  moment,  for  in  that  bed  was  not  my  uncle; 
but  a  giant,  whose  toes  stood  up  at  the  foot-board,  and 
whose  long  hair  was  spread  out  over  the  pillow  and  his 
long  gray  whiskers  lay  on  the  bed  clothes,  and  oh,  that 
snore  —  it  sounded  like  some  steam  horn.  That  giant 
figure  frightened  me  and  I  rushed  out  into  the  kitchen 
and  said,  "  Mother,  who  is  that  strange  man  in  the  north- 
west bed  room  ? "  and  she  said,  "  Why,  that  is  John 
Brown."  I  had  never  seen  John  Brown  before,  although 
my  father  had  been  with  him  in  the  wool  business  in 
iSpringfield.  I  had  heard  some  strange  things  about 
John  Brown,  and  the  figure  of  the  man  made  them  seem 
doubly  terrible.  I  hid  beside  my  mother,  where'  I  said  I 
would  stay  until  the  man  was  through  his  breakfast,  but 
father  came  out  and  demanded  that  the  boys  should 
come  in,  and  he  set  me  right  under  the  wing  of  that 
awful  giant.  But  when  John  Brown  saw  us  coming  in 
so  timidly,  he  turned  to  us  with  a  smile  so  benign  and 
beautiful  and  so  greatly  in  contrast  to  what  we  had  pic- 
tured him,  that  it  was  a  transition.  He  became  to  us 
boys  one  of  the  loveliest  men  we  ever  knew.  He  would 
go  to  the  barn  with  us  and  milk  the  cows,  pitch  the  hay 
from  the  hay-mow;  he  drove  the  cattle  to  water  for  us, 
and  told  us  many  a  story,  until  the  dear,  good  old  man 
became  one  of  the  treasurers  of  our  life.  It  is  true  that 
my  mother  thought  he  was  half  crazy,  and  consequently 
she  and  father  did  not  always  agree  about  him,  and  did 
not  discuss  him  before  the  children.  But  nevertheless, 
be  he  a  crank,  or  a  fanatic,  or  what  he  may,  one  thing 
ia  sure,  the  richest  milk  of  human  kindness  flowed  from 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  349 

that  heart  and  devoted  itself  sincerely  to  the  uplift  of 
humanity.  I  remember  him  with  love,  love  deep  and 
sacred,  up  to  this  present  time.  However  great  an  ex- 
tremist John  Brown  was,  there  were  many  of  them  in 
New  England.  Wendell  Phillips,  William  Lloyd  Garri- 
son and  John  Brown  never  could  agree.  John  Brown 
used  to  criticise  Wendell  Phillips  severely.  He  said  that 
Wendell  Phillips  could  not  see  to  read  the  clearest  signs 
of  revolution,  and  he  was  reminded  by  the  husband  who 
bought  a  grave-stone  that  had  been  carved  for  another 
woman,  but  the  stone-cutter  said  "  That  has  the  nanle  of 
another  person."  "  Oh,"  said  the  widower,  "  that  makes 
no  difference;  my  wife  couldn't  read."  John  Brown  once 
said  of  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison  that  he  couldn't  see  the  point 
and  was  like  the  woman  who  never  could  see  a  joke.  One 
morning,  seated  at  the  breakfast  table,  her  husband  cracked 
a  joke,  but  she  did  not  smile,  when  he  said,  "  Mary,  you 
could  not  see  a  joke  if  it  were  fired  at  you  from  a  Dal- 
green  gun,  whereupon  she  remarked :  "  Now  John,  you 
know  they  do  not  fire  jokes  out  of  a  gun."  Well  do  I 
recall  that  December  2d  of  1859.  Only  a  few  weeks  be- 
fore John  Brown  came  to  our  house  and  my  father  sub- 
scribed to  the  purchase  of  rifles  to  aid  in  the  attempt 
to  raise  the  insurrection  among  the  slaves.  The  last  time 
I  saw  John  Brown  he  was  in  the  wagon  with  my  father. 
Father  gave  him  the  reins  and  came  back  as  though  he 
had  forgotten  something.  John  Brown  said,  "Boys,  stay 
at  home ;  stay  at  home !  "  Now,  remember,  you  may  never 
see  me  again,"  and  then  in  a  lower  voice,  "  And  I  do  not 
think  you  ever  will  see  me  again,"  but  "  Remember  the 
advice  of  your  Uncle  BrowTi  (as  we  called  him),  and 
stay  at  home  with  the  old  folks,  and  remember  that  you 
will  be  more  blessed  here  than  anywhere  else  on  earth." 
The  happiest  place  on  earth  for  me  is  still  at  my  old  home 
in  Litchfield,  Connecticut.  I  did  not  understand  him 
then,  but  on  December  2d  at  eleven  o'clock  my  father 
called  us  all  into  the  house  and  all  that  hour  from  eleven 
to  twelve  o'clock  we  sat  there  in  perfect  silence.  As  the 
old  clock  in  that  kitchen  struck  eleven,  I  heard  the  bell 


350  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

ring  from  the  Methodist  Church,  its  peal  coming  np  the 
valley,  from  hill  to  hill,  and  echoing  its  sad  tone  as  the 
liour  wore  on.  The  peal  of  that  bell  remains  with  me 
now ;  it  has  ever  been  a  source  of  inspiration  to  me.  .Sixty 
times  struck  that  old  bell.  Once  a  minute,  and  when  the 
long  sad  hour  was  over,  father  put  his  Bible  upon  the 
mantel  and  went  slowly  out,  and  we  all  solemnly  fol- 
lowed, going  to  our  various  duties.  That  solemn  hour 
had  a  voice  in  the  coming  great  Civil  War  of  1861-65. 
At  that  hour  John  Brown  was  hanged  in  Virginia.  All 
through  New  England,  they  kept  that  hour  with  the  same 
solemn  services  which  characterized  my  father's  family. 
When  the  call  came  for  volunteers  the  young  men  of  New 
England  enlisted  in  the  army,  and  sang  again  and  again, 
that  old  song,  "  John  Brown's  body  lies  mouldering  in  the 
grave,  but  his  soul  goes  marching  on."  His  soul  is  still 
marching  on.  And  while  I  am  one  of  those  who  would 
be  the  first  to  resist  any  attempt  to  mar  the  sweet  fra- 
ternity that  now  characterises  the  feeling  between  the 
North  and  South,  as  I  believe  that  the  Southern  soldier 
fought  for  what  he  believed  to  be  right,  and  consequently 
is  entitled  to  our  fraternal  respect,  and  while  1  believe 
that  John  Brown  was  sometimes  a  fanatic,  yet  this  illus- 
tration teaches  us  this  great  lesson  and  that  John  Brown's 
advice  was  true.  His  happiest  days  were  passed  far  back 
in  the  quiet  of  his  old  home. 

Near  to  our  home,  in  the  town  of  Cummington,  lived 
William  Cullen  Bryant,  one  of  the  great  poets  of  New 
England.  He  came  back  there  to  spend  his  summers 
among  the  mountains  he  so  dearly  loved.  He  promised 
the  people  of  Cummington  that  he  would  again  make  his 
permanent  home  there.  I  remember  asking  him  if  he 
would  come  down  to  the  stream  where  he  wrote  "  Thana- 
topsis "  and  recite  it  for  us.  The  good,  old  neighbor, 
white  haired  and  trembling,  came  doAvn  to  the  banks  of 
that  little  stream  and  stood  in  the  shade  of  the  same 
old  maple  where  he  had  written  that  beautiful  poem,  and 
read  from  the  wonderful  creation  that  made  his  name 
famous. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  351 

"  So  live  that  when  thy  summons  comes,  to  join 
The  innumerable  caravan  which  moves 
To  that  mysterious  realm  where  each  must  take 
His  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death, 
Thou  go  not,  like  the  quarry  slave  at  night, 
Scourged  to  his  dungeon;  but,  sustained  and  soothed 
By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  thy  grave 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams." 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  I  will  come  back  to  Cummington. 
So  he  went  to  Europe  but  came  not  back  to  occupy  that 
home.  He  loved  the  old  home.  We  were  driving  by  his 
place  one  day  when  we  saw  him  planting  apple  trees  in 
July.  We  ail  know  that  apple  trees  won't  grow  when 
planted  in  July,  so  my  father,  knowing  him  well,  called 
to  him  and  said,  "  Mr.  Bryant,  what  are  you  doing  there  ? 
They  won't  grow."  Mr.  Bryant  paused  a  moment  and 
looked  at  us,  and  then  said  half  playfully :  "  Conwell, 
drive  on,  you  have  no  part  nor  lot  in  this  matter.  I  do 
not  expect  these  trees  to  grow;  I  am  setting  them  out 
because  I  want  to  live  over  again  the  days  when  my 
father  used  to  set  trees  when  they  would  grow.  I  want 
to  renew  that  memory."  He  was  wise,  for  in  his  work 
on  "  The  Transmigration  of  Eaces "  he  used  that  exper- 
ience wonderfully. 

In  18(50,  when  we  were  teaching  school,  my  elder 
brother  and  myself,  in  Blanchford,  Massachusetts,  were 
asked  to  go  to  Brooklyn  with  the  body  of  a  lady  who 
died  near  our  schools.  We  went  to  BrookhTi  on  Satur- 
day and  after  the  funeral,  our  friends  asked  us  to  stay 
over  Sunday,  saying  that  they  would  take  us  to  hear 
Henry  Ward  Beecher!  That  was  a  great  inducement,  be- 
cause my  father  read  the  "  Tribune  "  every  Sunday  morn- 
ing after  his  Bible  (and  sometimes  before  it)  and  what 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  said,  my  father  thought,  "  was 
law  and  Gospel."  Sunday  night,  we  went  to  Plymouth 
Church,  and  there  was  a  crowd  an  hour  before  the  service, 
and  when  the  doors  were  opened  we  were  crowded  up  the 


352  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

stairs.  We  boys  were  thrust  back  into  a  dirty  corner 
where  we  could  not  see.  Oh,  yes,  that  is  the  way  they 
treat  the  boys,  put  them  any  place  —  they're  only  boys ! 
I  remember  the  disappointment  of  that  night,  when  we 
went  there  more  to  see  than  hear.  But  finally  Mr.  Beecher 
came  out  and  gave  out  his  text.  I  remember  that  1  did  not 
pay  very  much  attention  to  it.  In  the  middle  of  the  ser- 
mon Mr.  Beecher  began  in  the  strangest  way  to  auction 
off  a  woman :  '*'  How  much  am  I  offered  for  the  woman  ?  " 
he  yelled,  and  while  in  his  biographies,  they  have  said  that 
this  woman  was  sold  in  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  but  I 
afterwards  asked  Mrs.  Beecher  and  she  said  that  Mr. 
Beecher  had  not  sold  this  woman  twice,  so  far  as  she 
knew,  but  that  she  recalled  distinctly  the  sale  in  the  Ply- 
mouth Church.  I  remember  standing  up  on  tip-toes  to 
look  for  that  woman  that  was  being  sold.  After  he  had 
finished,  after  the  singing  of  the  hymn,  he  said  "  Breth- 
ren, be  seated,"  and  then  said,  "  Sam,  come  here."  A 
colored  boy  came  up  tremblingly  and  stood  beside  him. 
"This  boy  is  offered  for  $770.00;  he  is  owned  in  South 
Carolina  and  has  run  away.  His  master  offers. him  to  me 
for  $770.00,  and  now  if  the  officers  of  the  church  will 
pass  the  plates  the  boy  shall  be  set  free,"  and  when  the 
plates  were  returned  over  $1700.00  came  in.  As  we  went 
our  way  home  I  said  to  my  elder  brother :  "  Oh,  what  a 
grand  thing  it  must  be  to  preach  to  a  congregation  of 
fifteen  hundred  people.  But  my  elder  brother  very  wisely 
said :  "  You  don't  know  anything  about  it ;  you  do  not 
know  whether  he  is  happy  or  not."  "  Well,"  I  suggested, 
"  wasn't  it  a  strange  thing  to  introduce  a  public  auction 
in  the  middle  of  a  sermon,"  and  my  elder  brother  again 
said  that  if  they  did  more  of  that  in  a  country  church 
they  would  have  a  larger  congregaton.  Afterwards  I  was 
quite  fortunate  to  know  Mr.  Beecher  and  frequently  re- 
ported his  sermons.  I  often  heard  him  say  that  the  hap- 
piest years  he  ever  knew  were  back  in  Lawrenceville,  Ohio, 
in  that  little  church  where  there  were  no  lamps  and  he 
had  to  borrow  them  himself,  light  them  himself,  and 
prepare  the  church  for  the  first  service.     He  told  how  he 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  353 

swept  the  church,  lighted  the  fire  in  the  stove,  and  how 
it  smoked;  then  how  he  sawed  the  wood  to  heat  the 
church,  and  how  he  went  into  carpenter  work  to  earn 
money  to  pay  his  own  salary,  3'et  he  said  that  was  the  hap- 
piest time  of  his  life.  Mrs.  Beecher  told  me  afterwards 
that  Mr.  Beecher  often  talked  about  those  days  and  said 
that  bye  and  bye  he  would  retire  and  they  w^ould  again 
go  back  to  the  simple  life  they  had  enjoyed  so  much. 

When  he  had  built  his  new  home  near  the  Hudson, 
Eobert  Collier  and  I  visited  him.  We  found  in  the  rear 
of  an  addition  that  clap-boards  had  been  put  up  in  all 
sorts  of  adjustment.  Mr.  Collier  asked  him :  "  Where 
did  you  find  a  carpenter  to  do  such  poor  work  as  that  ?  " 
and  Mr.  Beecher  said  humorously :  "  You  could  not  hire 
that  carpenter  on  your  house."  Then  he  said:  "Mr. 
Collier,  I  put  those  boards  on  that  house  myself.  I  in- 
sisted that  they  leave  that  work  for  me  to  do.  I  have 
been  happy  putting  on  these  boards  and  driving  these 
nails.  They  took  me  back  to  the  old  days  at  Lawrence- 
ville,  where  we  lived  over  a  store  and  our  pantry  was  a 
dry  goods  box.  But  there  we  were  so  happy.  I  am  hop- 
ing sometime  to  be  as  happy  again,  but  it  is  not  possible 
to  do  it  while  I  am  in  the  service  of  the  public."  He  had 
promised  himself  and  his  wife  some  day  to  go  back  to  that 
simple  life.  But  his  sudden  death  taught  the  same  great 
lesson  with  all  the  examples  I  give  of  great  men  and  women. 

Eev.  Eobt.  Collier  always  enjoyed  the  circus  —  the  cir- 
cus was  the  great  place  of  enjoyment  outside,  perhaps,  of 
his  pulpit  work.  It  was  Robert  Collier  who  used  to  tell 
the  story  of  the  boy  whose  aunt  always  made  him  go  to 
church,  but  after  going  to  a  circus  he  wrote  to  his  aunt: 
"  Auntie,  if  you  had  ever  been  to  a  circus,  you  wouldn't 
go  to  another  prayer-meeting  as  long  as  you  live."  The 
love  of  Collier  for  the  circus  onlv  shows  the  simplicity  of 
the  great  man's  mind.  Mr.  Collier  is  said  to  have  paid 
a  dollar  for  a  fifty  cent  ticket  to  the  circus,  only  making 
it  conditional  that  he  was  to  have  the  privilege  of  going 
'round  to  the  rear  and  crawling  under  the  tent,  showing 
what  he  must  have  done  when  a  boy.     The  fact    of  Mr. 

23 


354  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONV/ELL 

Collier's  love  for  the  circus  was  one  of  the  strange  things 
in  the  eccentricities  of  a  great  man's  life.  Once  Mr.  Bar- 
num  came  into  Mr.  Collier's  church  and  Mr.  Collier  said 
to  the  usher :  "  Please  show  Mr.  Barnum  to  a  front  seat, 
for  he  always  gives  me  one  in  his  circus."  These  sim- 
plicities often  show  that  somewhere  back  in  each  man's 
life  there  is  a  point  where  happiness  and  love  are  one, 
and  when  that  point  is  passed,  we  go  on  longing  to  the  re- 
turn. 

The  night  after  he  went  to  hear  Henry  Ward  Beecher's 
great  sermon  they  persuaded  us  to  stay  until  the  follow- 
ing Monday  night,  because  there  was  to  be  a  lecture  at 
the  Cooper  Institute  and  there  was  to  be  a  parade  of 
political  clubs,  and  fire  works,  so  as  country  boys,  easily 
influenced,  we  decided  that  the  school  could  wait  for  an- 
other day,  and  staid  for  the  procession.  We  went  to 
Cooper's  Institute  and  there  was  a  crowd  as  there  was  at 
Beecher's  church.  We  finally  got  on  the  stairway  and 
far  in  the  rear  of  the  great  crowd,  but  my  brother  stood 
on  the  floor,  and  I  sat  on  the  ledge  of  the  window  sill,  with 
my  feet  on  his  shoulders,  so  he  held  me  while  I  told  him 
down  there  what  was  going  on  over  yonder.  The  first 
man  that  came  on  the  platform,  and  presided  at  that 
meeting,  was  William  Cullent  Bryant,  our  dear  old  neigh- 
bor. When  we  boys  in  a  strange  city  saw  that  familiar 
face,  oh,  the  emotions  that  arose  in  our  hearts!  How 
proud  we  were  at  that  hour,  that  he,  our  neighbor,  was 
presiding  on  that  occasion.  He  took  his  seat  on  the  stage, 
the  right  of  which  was  left  vacant  for  some  one  yet  to 
come.  Next  came  a  very  heavy  man,  but  immediately  fol- 
lowing him  a  tall,  lean  man.  Mr.  Bryant  arose  and  went 
toward  him,  bowing  and  smiling.  He  was  an  awkward 
specimen  of  a  man  and  all  about  me  people  were  asking 
"Who  is  that?"  but  no  man  seemed  to  know.  T  asked  a 
gentleman  who  that  man  was,  but  he  said  he  didn't  know. 
He  was  an  awkward  specimen  indeed;  one  of  the  legs  of 
his  trousers  was  up  about  two  inches  above  his  shoe;  his 
hair  was  dishevelled  and  stuck  out  like  rooster's  feathers; 
his  coat  was  altogether  too  large  for  him  in  tlie  back. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  355 

his  arms  much  longer  than  the  sleeves,  and  with  his  legs 
twisted  around  the  rungs  of  the  chair,  was  the  picture  of 
of  embarrassment.  When  Mr.  Bryant  arose  to  introduce 
the  speaker  of  that  evening,  he  was  known  seemingly  to 
few  in  that  great  hall.  Mr.  Br}'ant  said:  "Gentlemen 
of  New  York,  you  have  your  favorite  son  in  Mr.  Seward, 
and  if  he  were  to  be  President  of  the  United  States,  every 
one  of  us  would  be  proud  of  him."  Then  came  great  ap- 
plause. "  Ohio  has  her  favorite  son  in  Judge  Wade ;  and 
the  nation  would  prosper  under  his  administration,  but 
Gentlemen  of  ISTew  York,  it  is  a  great  honor  that  is  con- 
ferred upon  me  to-night,  for  I  can  introduce  to  you  the 
next  President  of  the  United  States,  Abraham  Lincoln." 
Then  through  that  audience  flew  the  query  as  to  whom 
Abraham  Lincoln  was.  There  was  but  weak  applause. 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  in  his  hand  a  manuscript.  He  had  writ- 
ten it  with  great  care  and  exactness  and  the  speech  which 
you  read  in  his  biography  is  the  one  that  he  wrote,  not 
the  one  that  he  delivered  as  I  recall  it,  and  it  is  fortu- 
nate for  the  country  that  they  did  print  the  one  that  he 
wrote.  I  think  the  one  he  wrote  had  already  been  set  up 
in  type  that  afternoon  from  his  manuscript,  and  conse- 
quently they  did  not  go  over  it  to  see  whether  it  had  been 
changed  or  not.  He  had  read  three  pages  and  had  gone 
on  to  the  fourth  when  he  lost  his  place  and  then  he  be- 
gan to  tremble  and  stammer.  He  then  turned  it  over  two 
or  three  times,  threw  the  manuscript  upon  the  table,  and, 
as  they  say  in  the  west,  "  let  himself  go."  Now  the  stam- 
mering man  who  had  created  only  silent  derision  up  to 
that  point,  suddenly  flashed  out  into  an  angel  of  oratory 
and  the  awkward  arms  and  dishevelled  hair  were  lost 
sight  of  entirely  in  the  wonderful  beauty  and  lofty  inspi- 
ration of  that  magnificent  address.  The  great  audience 
immediately  began  to  follow  his  thought,  and  when  he  ut- 
tered that  quotation  from  Douglass,  "  It  is  written  on  the 
sky  of  America  that  the  slaves  shall  some  day  be  free,"  he 
had  settled  the  question  that  he  was  to  be  the  next  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  The  applause  was  so  great 
that  the  building  trembled  and  I  felt  the  windows  shake 


356  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL" 

behind  me.  Afterward,  as  we  walked  home,  I  said  to 
my  elder  brother  again,  "  Wasn't  it  a  great  thing  to  be  in- 
troduced to  all  those  people  as  the  next  President  of 
the  United  States  ? "  and  my  elder  brother  very  wisely 
said :  "  You  do  not  know  whether  he  was  really  happy  or 
not/'  Afterwards,  in  1864,  when  one  of  my  soldiers  was 
unjustly  sentenced  and  his  gray-haired  mother  plead  with 
me  to  use  what  influence  I  would  have  with  the  President, 
I  went  to  Washington  and  told  the  story  to  the  President. 
He  said  he  had  heard  something  about  it  from  Mr.  .Stan- 
ton, and  he  said  he  would  investigate  the  matter,  and  he 
did  afterward  decide  that  the  man  should  not  be  put  to 
death.  At  the  close  of  that  interview  I  said  to  the  Presi- 
dent :  "  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Lincoln,  but  is  it  -not 
a  most  exhausting  thing  to  sit  here  hearing  all  these  ap- 
peals and  have  all  of  this  business  on  your  hands  ?  "  He 
laid  his  head  on  his  hand,  and  in  a  somewhat  wearied  man- 
ner, said,  with  a  deep  sigh :  "  Yes,  yes ;  no  man  ought  to 
be  ambitious  to  be  President  of  the  United  States,"  and 
said  he,  "  When  this  war  is  over,  and  that  won't  be  very 
long,  I  tell  my  "  Tad  "  that  we  will  go  back  to  the  farm 
where  I  was  happier  as  a  boy  when  I  dug  potatoes  at 
twenty-five  cents  a  day  than  I  am  now;  I  tell  him  I  will 
buy  him  a  mule  and  a  pony  and  he  shall  have  a  little 
cart  and  he  shall  make  a  little  garden  in  a  field  all  his 
own,"  and  the  President's  face  beamed  as  he  arose  from 
his  chair  in  the  delight  of  excitement  as  he  said :  "  Yes, 
I  will  be  far  happier  than  I  have  ever  been  here."  The 
next  time  I  looked  in  the  face  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  in 
the  east  room  of  the  White  House  at  Washington  as  he 
lay  in  his  coffin.  Not  long  ago  at  a  Chautauqua  lecture 
I  was  on  the  very  farm  which  he  bought  at  Salem,  Illinois, 
and  looked  around  the  place  where  he  had  resolved  to 
build  a  mansion,  but  which  was  never  constructed. 

Near  my  home  in  the  Berkshires,  Charles  Dudley  War- 
ner was  born.     When  he  had  accomplished  great  things . 
in  literature  and  had  written  "  My  Summer  in  a  Gar- 
den," that  popular  work  which  attracted  the  attention  of 
his  newspaper  friends,  he  went  to  Hartford,  where  the. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  357] 

latter  gave  him  a  banquet.  I  was  invited  to  attend  and 
report  it  for  the  public  press.  They  lauded  him  and  said 
how  beautiful  it  was  to  be  so  elevated  above  his  fellow 
men,  and  how  great  he  was  in  the  estimation  of  the  world. 
But  he  in  his  answer  to  the  toast  said,  "  Gentlemen,  I 
wish  for  no  fame,  I  desire  no  glory  and  you  have  made  a 
mistake  if  you  think  I  enjoy  any  such  notoriety.  I  envy 
the  Hartford  teacher  whose  smile  threw  sunshine  along 
her  pathway."  Then  he  told  us  the  story  of  a  poor 
little  boy,  cold  and  barefooted,  standing  on  the  street  on  a 
terribly  cold  day.  A  lady  came  along,  and  looking 
kindly  at  him,  said,  "  Little  boy,  are  you  cold  ? '"  The 
little  fellow,  looking  up  into  her  face,  said,  "  Yes  Ma'am,  I 
was  cold  till  you  smiled."  He  would  rather  have  a  smile 
like  that  and  the  simple  love  of  his  fellow  men  than  to 
have  all  the  fame  of  the  earth.  He  was  honored  in  all 
parts  of  the  world  by  the  greatest  of  the  great,  yet  he 
was  a  sad  man  when  he  wrote  "  My  Summer  in  a  Garden," 
and  it  all  seems  a  mystery  how  he  could  in  such  grief 
have  written  that  remarkable  little  tale.  This  sadness  is 
often  associated  with  humorists.  Mr.  Shaw  was  one  of  the 
saddest  men  I  ever  met.  Why,  he  cried  on  the  slightest  oc- 
casion. I  went  one  day  to  interview  him  in  Boston,  and 
Mr.  Shepard-  his  publisher,  said  "  Please  don't  trouble  Josh 
Billings  now."  "  What  is  the  matter?  "  "  Oh,  he  is  cry- 
ing again,'^  said  Mr.  Shepard.  I  asked  him  how  Mr.  Shaw 
could  write  such  funny  things  as  he  did.  He  then  showed 
me  the  manuscript  (which  Mr.  Shaw  had  just  placed  on 
his  desk  and  which  he  had  just  written),  in  which  he 
says,  "  I  do  not  know  any  cure  for  laziness,  but  I  have 
known  a  second  wife  to  hurry  it  up  some."  Artemus 
Ward  wrote  the  most  laughable  things  while  his  heart  was 
in  the  deepest  wretchedness.  Often  these  glimpses  of  the 
funny  men  whose  profession  would  seem  to  show  them  to 
be  the  happiest  of  earth's  people,  prove  that  they  are 
sometimes  the  most  gloomy  and  miserable. 

John  B.  Gough,  the  great  temperance  orator,  the  great- 
est the  world  has  ever  seen,  said  to  me  one  evening  at 
his  home  that  he  would  lecture  for  forty  years,  and  then 


S58  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

would  stop.  But  his  wife  said,  "  Now,  John,  you  know 
yon  won't  give  it  up."  He  assented,  "  Yes,  I  will."  But 
his  wife  said,  "  jSTo  you  won't.  You  men  when  you  drink 
of  public  life  find  it  like  a  drink  of  whiskey,  and  you  are 
just  like  the  rest  of  the  men."  "  No,"  said  he.  Then 
Mr.  Gough  told  again  his  familiar  story  of  the  minister 
who  was  preaching  in  his  pulpit  in  Boston  when  he  saw 
the  Governor  of  the  State  coming  up  the  aisle.  Imme- 
diately he  began  to  stammer,  and  finally  said :  "  I  see 
the  Governor  coming  in,  and  as  1  know  you  will  want  to 
hear  an  exhortation  from  him,  I  think  that  I  had  better 
stop."  Then  one  of  the  old  officials  leaped  up  from  one 
of  the  front  seats  and  said,  "  I  insist  upon  your  going  on 
with  your  sermon,  sir;  you  ought  not  be  embarrassed  by 
the  Governor's  coming  in.  We  are  all  worms!  All 
worms !  nothing  but  worms ! "  Then  the  minister  was 
angry  and  shouted :  "  .Sir,  I  would  have  you  understand 
that  there  is  a  difference  in  worms."  Mr.  Gough  said 
he  was  different  from  other  people  yet  the  years  came 
and  went,  and  he  stayed  on  the  public  platform.  One 
night  a  committee  from  Frankford,  Philadelphia,  asked 
me  to  write  him  and  ask  him  to  lecture  for  them.  I 
wrote  and  whether  my  influence  had  an^-thing  to  do  with 
it  or  not,  I  do  not  know,  but  he  came  from  New  York 
and  when  he  was  in  about  the  middle  of  his  lecture,  he 
came  to  that  sentence,  "  Young  man,  keep  your  record 
clear,  for  a  single  glass  of  intoxicating  liquor  may  some- 
where, in  after  years,  change  into  a  horrid  monster  that 
shall  carry  you  down  to  woe."  And  when  he  had  uttered 
that  wonderful  sentence  of  advice,  he  stopped  to  get 
breath,  reached  for  a  drink  of  water,  swung  forward  and 
fell  over.  The  doctor  said  he  was  too  late  for  any  earthly 
aid,  and  John  B.  Gough,  with  his  armor  on,  went  on  into 
Glory.  He  never  found  that  earthly  rest  he  had  prom- 
ised himself.  His  garden  never  showed  its  flowers,  and 
h.is  fields  were  never  strewn  with  grain. 

When  our  regiment  was  encamped  in  Faneuil  Hall  at 
Boston  before  embarking  for  the  war  in  1863,  Mr.  Wen- 
dell Phillips  sent  an  invitation  to  the  officers  of  the  regi- 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  359 

ment  to  visit  his  home.  But  when  we  reached  his  house 
we  found  that  he  had  been  caJled  to  Worcester  suddenly 
to  make  a  speech.  But  we  found  his  wife  there  in  her 
rolling  chair,  for  she  was  a  permanent  invalid.  Our  even- 
ing was  spent  very  pleasantlj',  but  I  said  to  her :  "  Are 
you  not  very  lonesome  when  Mr.  Phillips  is  away  so 
much  ?  "  "  Yes/'  she  said,  "  I  am  very  lonesome ;  he  is 
father,  mother,  brother,  sister,  husband  and  child  to  me," 
and  said  she,  "  he  cares  for  me  with  the  tenderness  of  a 
mother;  he  waits  upon  me,  he  takes  me  out,  and  brings 
me  in;  he  dresses  me,  and  it  now  seems  so  strange  that  he 
is  not  by  my  side.  If  it  were  not  for  him,  I  should  die, 
•but  he  says  that  as  soon  as  the  slaves  are  free  that  he 
will  come  back  and  be  the  same  husband  he  was  before." 
The  officers  standing  around  me  smiled  as  they  heard  of 
his  promise  to  retire,  but  said  she,  "  Oh,  yes,  he  will  do  as 
he  promised."  When  the  war  was  over  and  the  slaves 
were  free,  and  he  had  scolded  General  Grant  all  he  wished, 
he  did  do  as  he  promised,  and  did  retire.  He  sold  his 
house  in  the  city  and  bought  one  in  Waverly,  Massa- 
chusetts. He  did  prove  the  exception  and  went  back  to  the 
private  life  that  he  had  promised  himself  and  his  wife. 
Every  Sunday  morning  as  I  drove  by  his  home  I  could  see 
him  swinging  on  his  gate.  It  was  a  double  gate  over  the 
driveway,  and  he  would  pull  that  gate  far  in,  get  on  it  and 
then  swing  way  out  over  the  side-walk  and  then  in  again. 
Well,  he  used  to  swing  on  that  gate  every  Sunday  morn- 
ing, and  my  family  wondered  why  it  was  that  he  always 
did  it  on  that  particular  morning.  One  Sunday  morning 
when  I  drove  by,  I  found  Mr.  Phillips  swinging  on  his 
gate  over  the  side-walk,  and  I  said,  "  Mr.  Phillips,  my  fam- 
ily wish  me  to  ask  you  why  you  swing  on  this  gate  every 
Sunday  morning."  Mr.  Phillips,  who  had  a  very  deep 
sense  of  humour,  stepped  off  the  gate,  stood  back,  and 
assuming  a  dignified,  ministerial  air,  ''  I  am  requested 
to  discourse  to-day  upon  the  text  '  Why  I  swing  upon 
this  gate  on  Sunday  morning,'  and  I  will,  therefore, 
divide  my  text  into  two  heads."  I  quickly  told  him  that 
I  must  get  to  church  some  time  that  day.     "  Then,"  said 


360  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

he,  with  a  smile,  "  just  one  word  more :  Why  do  I  swing 
on  a  gate?  Because  the  first  time  I  saw  my  wife  she  was 
swinging  on  the  gate,  and  the  second  time  I  saw  her, 
we  kissed  each  other  over  the  top  of  the  gate,  and  when  I 
swing  it  reminds  me  of  other  happy  days  long  gone  by. 
That,  sir,  is  the  reason  I  swing  upon  this  gate."  Then 
his  humor  all  disappeared  and  he  said :  "  I  really  swing 
upon  this  gate  on  Sunday  morning  because  I  think  the 
next  thing  to  the  love  of  God  is  love  of  man  for  a  true 
woman  —  as  you  cannot  say  you  love  God  and  hate  your 
brother,  neither  can  you  say  you  love  God  unless  you 
have  first  loved  a  human  being,  and  I  swing  on  this  gate 
on  Sunday  morning  because  to  me  it  is  next  to  life's 
highest  worship."  And  then,  in  a  majestic  manner,  he 
said,  "  Con  well,  all  within  this  gate  is  PAEADISE  and  all 
without  it  MARTYRDOM."  In  that  wonderful  sentence, 
which  I  feel  sure  I  recall  accurately,  he  uttered  the  most 
glorious  expression  that  could  ever  come  from  uninspired 
lips. 

I  had  a  glimpse  of  James  G.  Blaine  when  I  went  to 
his  home  in  Augusta,  Maine,  to  write  his  biography  for 
the  committee.  A  day  or  two  after  it  was  finished  a  dis- 
tinguished Senator  from  Washington  came  to  see  me  in 
Philadelphia  and  asked  if  Mr.  Blaine  had  seen  the  book, 
and  I  told  him  that  he  certainly  had.  "  Did  he  see  that 
second  chapter  ?  "  "  Of  course  he  did,"  said  I ;  "  he  cor- 
rected it."  Then  he  wanted  to  know  how  much  money 
it  would  take  to  get  the  book  out  of  circulation.  "  Why, 
what  is  the  matter  with  the  book,"  said  I,  but  he  would 
not  tell  me,  and  said  that  he  would  pay  me  well  if  I 
would  only  keep  the  book  from  circulation.  He  did  not 
tell  me  what  was  the  matter.  I  told  him  that  the  pub- 
lishers owned  the  copyright,  having  bought  it  from  me. 
He  said,  "Is  it  not  possible  for  you  to  take  a  trip  to 
Europe  to-morrow  morning?"  "But  why  take  a  trip  to 
Europe  ?  "  "  The  committee  will  pay  all  of  your  expenses, 
all  your  family's  expenses,  and  of  any  servants  you  wish 
to  take  with  you  —  only  get  out  of  the  country."  "  Well," 
I  said,   "  I  am  not  going  to  leave  the  country  for  my 


TPIE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  361 

country's  good,  unless  I  know  what  I  am  going  for."  I 
never  could  find  out  what  the  trouble  with  that  second 
chapter  was,  and  I  afterwards  asked  Mrs.  Blaine  if  she 
knew  what  was  the  matter.  She  then  broke  out  in  a 
paroxysm  of  grief  and  said  that  if  he  had  stayed  in  Wash- 
ington, Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  a  teacher,  "  he  would 
be  living  yet."  She  said  "  he  had  given  thirty  years  of 
his  life  to  the  public  service,  and  now  they  have  so  un- 
gratefully disgraced  his  name,  sent  him  to  an  early  grave, 
and  all  in  consequence  of  what  he  has  done  for  the  pub- 
lic. He  is  a  stranger  to  his  country  —  a  stranger  to  his 
friends,"  and  then  she  said,  "  0  would  to  God  he  had 
stayed  in  Pennsylvania ! "  I  left  her  then,  but  I  have 
never  known  what  was  in  that  second  chapter  that  caused 
the  disturbance.  But  I  do  know  the  second  chapter  was 
concerning  their  early  and  happy  life  in  Washington, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  taught  in  the  college. 

Near  our  home  in  Newton,  Massachusetts,  was  that  of 
"F.  F.  Smith,  who  wrote  "  America."  It  was  of  him  that 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  said  that  "  Nature  tried  to  hide 
him  by  naming  him  Smith."  Smith  lived  that  quiet 
and  restful  life  that  reminds  one  of  Tennyson's  "Brook  " 
when  thinking  of  him.  He  knew  the  glory  of  modest 
living. 

The  last  time  I  saw  the  sweet  Quaker  poet,  John  Green- 
leaf  Whittier,  was  in  Amesbury,  before  he  died.  He  sent 
a  note  to  the  lecture  hall  asking  me  to  come  to  him.  I 
asked  him  what  was  his  favorite  poem  of  his  own  writing. 
He  said  he  had  not  thought  very  much  about  it,  but  said 
that  there  was  one  that  he  especially  remembered: 

"  I  know  not  where  His  islands  lift 

Their  fronded  palms  in  air, 
I  only  know  I  cannot  drift 

Beyond  His  love  and  care." 

I  then  asked  him,  "  Mr.  Whittier,  how  could  you  write 
all  those  war  songs  which  sent  us  young  men  to  war,  and 
you  a  peaceful  Quaker?    I  cannot  understand  it."     He 


362  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

smiled  and  said  that  his  great-grandfather  had  been  on  a 
ship  that  was  attacked  by  pirates,  and  as  one  of  the 
pirates  was  climbing  up  the  rope  into  their  ship,  his 
great-grandfather  grasped  a  knife  and  cut  the  rope,  say- 
ing :  "  If  thee  wants  the  rope,  thee  can  have  it."  He 
said  that  he  had  inherited  something  of  the  same  spirit. 

At  Kennett  Square,  Pennsylvania,  Bayard  Taylor  took 
me  to  the  grave  of  his  wife,  and  said  "  Here  is  the  spot 
where  I  determined  to  live  anew.  From  this  grave  the 
real  experiences  of  my  life  began."  There  he  was  com- 
pleting his  home  called  "  Cedar  Croft."  But  he  died  while 
IJ.  S,  Minister  to  Germany.  The  Young  Men's  Congress 
of  Boston,  when  arranging  for  a  great  memorial  service 
in  Tremont  Temple,  asked  me  to  call  on  Dr.  Oliver  Wend  el 
Holmes  to  ask  him  to  write  a  poem  on  Bayard  Taylor's 
death.  When  I  asked  Mr.  Holmes  to  write  this  poem,  to 
be  read  in  the  Tremont  Temple,  he  was  sitting  on  the  rock- 
ing chair.  He  rocked  back  and  kicked  up  his  feet,  and 
began  to  laugh.  "  I  write  a  poem  on  Bayard  Taylor  — 
ah,  no  —  but  I  tell  you,  if  you  will  get  Mr.  Longfellow 
to  write  a  poem  on  Bayard  Taylor's  death,  I  Avill  read  it." 
These  things  only  show  the  eccentricities  of  Mr.  Holmes. 
So  I  went  to  Mr.  Longfellow  and  told  him  what  Dr. 
Holmes  had  said,  and  here  is  the  poem  he  wrote: 

"  Dead  he  lay  among  his  books ! 
The  peace  of  God  was  in  his  looks. 
As  the  statues  in  the  gloom 
Watch  o'er  Maximilian's  tomb. 
So  those  volumes  from  their  shelve:. 
Watched  him,  silent  as  themselves. 
Ah,  his  hand  will  never  more 
Turn  their  storied  pages  o'er. 
Never  more  his  lips  repeat 
Songs  of  theirs,  however  sweet. 
Let  the  lifeless  body  rest! 
He  is  gone  who  was  its  guest. 
Gone  as  travellers  haste  to  leave 
An  inn,  nor  tarry  until  eve. 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  363 

Traveller !   in  what  realms  afar. 
In  what  planet,  in  what  star. 
In  what  gardens  of  delight 
East  thy  weary  feet  to-night  ? 
Poet,  thou  whose  latest  verse 
Was  a  garland  on  thy  hearse, 
Thou  hast  sung  with  organ  tone 
In  Deukalion's  life  thine  own. 
On  the  ruins  of  the  Past 
Blooms  the  perfect  flower,  at  last. 
Friend,  but  yesterday  the  bells 
Pang  for  thee  their  loud  farewells; 
And  to-day  they  toll  for  thee, 
Lying  dead  beyond  the  sea; 
Lying  dead  among  thy  books; 
The  peace  of  God  in  all  thy  looks." 

That  great  traveller,  like  Mr.  Longfellow,  used  to 
tell  me  of  his  first  wife.  He  always  said  that  her  sweet 
spirit  occupied  that  room  and  stood  by  him.  I  often  told 
him  that  he  was  wrong  and  argued  with  him,  but  he  said, 
"  I  know  she  is  here."  I  often  thought  of  the  great  in- 
spiration she  had  been  to  him  in  his  marvelous  poems 
and  books.  Poor  Bayard  Taylor,  "  In  what  gardens  of 
delight,  rest  thy  weary  feet  to-night?"  Mr.  Longfellow 
once  said  that  Mary  "  stood  Between  him  and  his  manu- 
script," and  he  could  not  get  away  from  the  impression 
that  she  was  with  him  all  the  time.  How  sad  was  her 
early  death  and  how  he  suffered  the  martyrdom  of  the 
faithful !  Longfellow's  home  life  was  always  beautiful. 
But  his  later  years  were  disturbed  greatly  by  souvenir  and 
curiosity  seekers. 

Horace  Greeley  died  of  a  broken  heart  because  he  was 
not  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  and  never 
was  happy  in  the  last  years  of  his  life.  His  idea  of  true 
happiness  was  to  go  to  some  quiet  retreat  and  publish 
some  little  paper.  He  once  declared  at  a  dinner  in  Brook- 
lyn that  he  envied  the  owner  of  a  weekly  paper  in  In- 


3G4  LIFE  OF  RUSSELL  H.  CONWELL 

diana  whose  paper  was  so  weakly  that  the  subscribers  did 
not  miss  it  if  it  failed  to  appear. 

]\Ir.  Tennyson  told  me  that  he  would  not  exchange  his 
home,  walled  in  as  it  was  like  a  fortress,  for  Windsor 
Castle  or  the  throne  of  the  Queen. 

Mr.  Carnegie  said  to  me  only  a  few  months  ago  that 
if  a  man  owned  his  home  and  had  his  health  he  had  all 
the  money  that  man  needed  to  be  as  happy  as  any  person 
can  be.     Mr.  Carnegie  was  right  about  that. 

Empress  Eugenie,  in  1870,  was  said  to  be  the  happiest 
woman  in  France.  I  saw  her  in  the  Tuilleres  at  a  gor- 
geous banquet  and  a  few  years  after,  when  her  husband 
had  been  captured,  her  son  killed  and  she  was  a  widow,  at 
the  Chislehurst  Cottage,  I  said  to  her,  "  The  last  time  I 
saw  you  in  that  beautiful  palace  you  were  said  to  be  the 
happiest  woman  in  the  world."  "  .Sir,"  she  said,  "  I  am 
far  happier  now  than  I  was  then."  It  was  a  statement 
that  for  a  long  time  I  could  not  understand. 

I  caught  a  glimpse  of  Garibaldi  weeping  because  he  did 
not  go  back  with  his  wife,  Anita,  to  South  America. 

I  visited  Charles  Dickens  at  his  home  and  asked  him 
to  come  to  America  again  and  read  from  his  books,  but 
Mr.  Dickens  said  "  No,  I  will  never  cross  the  ocean ;  I 
will  not  go  even  to  London.  When  I  die,  I  am  to  be  bur- 
ied out  there  on  the  lawn,"  and  he  pointed  out  the  place 
to  me.  A  few  weeks  later  I  hired  a  custodian  to  let  me 
in  early  at  the  rear  gate  of  Westminster  Abbey,  for  Par- 
liament had  changed  Mr.  Dickens's  will  in  one  respect, 
and  provided  that  he  should  not  be  buried  on  the  lawn 
of  his  cottage,  but  instead  in  Westminster  Abbey,  but  they 
made  no  other  change  in  his  will.  There  I  looked  on 
the  fifteen  men,  all  whom  the  will  allowed  to  be  pres- 
ent at  his  funeral,  who  were  bearing  all  that  was  mortal 
of  Charles  Dickens  to  his  rest,  and  I  heard  Dean  Stanley 
say  "While  Mr.  Dickens  lived,  his  loss  was  our  gain;  but 
now  his  gain  is  our  loss."  When  he  uttered  that  great 
truth,  very  condensed,  in  that  beautiful  language,  he 
showed  that  human   life  in  the  public  service   of   one's 


THE  MAN  AND  THE  WORK  365 

follow  men  may  be  nothing  more  or  less  than  continual 
sacrifice. 

My  friends,  if  you  are  called  to  public  service;  if  you 
have  influence  that  you  can  use  for  the  public  good,  do 
not  hesitate  to  go  if  you  are  SUEE  that  DUTY  calls 
you.  But  if,  instead,  no  voice  of  God,  no  call  of  mankinds 
doth  require  that  you  go  out  and  give  up  the  best  of  life 
for  your  fellows,  remember  how  fortunate  you  are.  If 
you  can  go  to  your  home  at  evening  and  read  your  paper 
in  peace,  and  rest  undisturbed,  do  so,  and  remember  that 
you  have  reached  the  very  height  of  personal  happiness. 
Then  seek  no  farther,  count  thyself  happy  and  go  no 
farther  than  God  shall  call  you.  For  the  happiest  man 
is  not  famous,  nor  rich,  but  he  who  hath  his  loved  ones  in 
an  undisturbed  peace  around.  Eemember  what  Wendell 
Phillips  said,  "All  within  this  gate  is  Paradise;  all  with- 
out it  is  MAETYDROM." 

I  had  a  glimpse  of  Generals  Grant  and  Sheridan  wrest- 
ling like  boys,  over  a  box  of  cigars  sent  into  General 
Grant's  tent.     They  were  boys  again. 

I  had  a  glimpse  of  Li  Hung  Chang  at  Nanking,  China, 
at  an  execution  by  beheading,  and  a  glimpse  of  him  an 
hour  later  playing  leap  frog  with  his  grandchildren. 
Childhood  was  a  joy,  manhood  a  tragedy. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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